martha: to a colorful british priest apologizing for some unholy language on his facebook page. the priest used the f-word and then discussed kicking back with a gin and tonic. he later said he regrets his action. he can be foragain, of course. forgiven, of course. 50,000 of these bracelets people are wearing. have a fabulous weekend, we'll see you on tuesday. jon: exactly 33 years ago today little etan patz vanished. now a man is in custody, confessing to murdering the 6-year-old boy. jenna: also the president in full campaign attack mode, calling out governor romney by name on a host of issues. it's a strategy not normally seen this early in a campaign from a sitting president. is it a good strategy? we'll talk more about that.

jon: and it's a holiday weekend, a lot of people will be fire being up the grill, but be sure the flames stay with they belong. we'll show you dramatic demo of what could happen if you don't take the right precautions. it's all "happening now" almost, almost -- it's all u "happening now." good friday morning to you. brand new developments in the etan patz case. we are awaiting the arraignment of a new jersey man who's made a shocking confession, police say. i'm jon scott. jenna: hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee. new york police arrested pedro hernandez who now admits he murdered the 6-year-old boy back in 1979. >> he brought them to the scene of the crime which is now a store that sells eye glasses. hernandez describe today the detectives how he lured young etan from the school bus stop at

west broadway and prince street. with the promise of a soda. he then led him into the basement of the vodega, choked him there and dissupposed of the body by putting it into a plastic bag and placing it into the trash. jenna: hernandez due in court later on, a painful day for the patz family, exactly 33 years ago today the little boy vanished on his way to school. so the timing of this something we're taking a look at as well. rick heaven that would's live with more. rick, we're hearing there's some news today on where the suspect is now. what can you tell us? >> reporter: jenna, pedro hernandez is reportedly on suicide watch at bellevue hospital. he is scheduled to be arraigned sometime today, he could be arraigned at the hospital if necessary, but in any case, a pretty surprising development in this case. this guy was not one of the prime s.s. the investigators knew about

him. he was on a detective's report, but he had apparently never been questioned until wednesday. this is a guy who supposedly years ago had confessed to family members that he had done a bad thing in his words, had killed a child in new york, but it wasn't until last month when the nypd and the fbi dug up a basement a block from etan's home that someone close to hernandez contacted the nypd to report that pedro might be the real killer. on wednesday hernandez reportedly confessed. he told detectives, as you heard, that he lured etan to the store, strangled him in the basement and left his body in a trash pile. >> he, um, spoke to our detectives. we have a confession, a written confession, a signed confession. he spoke for three and a half hours, videotaped statements. so, obviously, we believe that there's probable cause to go

forward with this arrest. >> reporter: but, you know, jenna, interestingly, there are still some investigators working this case who are skeptical because there's still no direct evidence of a murder. jenna: and that's a big question. it's a big question we're going to be talking about with our legal panel in just a little bit, rick. as far as the people who know pedro hernandez, who have known him for years, what is their reaction to this news? >> reporter: yeah. well, we've heard from people who were in the soho neighborhood at the time that etan disappeared and knew hernandez. they said he was kind of strange, that he kept to himself. he never talked to anyone, wasn't very friendly, and now we're hearing from neighbors of his in new jersey where he lived who give us a very similar description, that he is a guy who didn't talk much. he was very quiet. the only time they saw him, he'd be on his front porch smoking cigarettes. he did live with a 20-year-old daughter and his second wife in new jersey, and police have told us that this man was remorseful during his confession, and his brother-in-law now says that he hopes that this will all lead to

some closure for etan's family. >> i think it will. at least now they're going to know what happened, and they don't have to search anymore. they don't have to suffer anymore in waiting whether he is alive or what happened or who kill him. >> reporter: still, incredibly, 33 years to the day that etan went missing, this day now national missing children's day because of etan patz and now, apparently, we have his killer in custody. jenna: the timing so ironic. we'll continue to watch, rick. thank you very much, rick leventhal for us today. more on the story as we get it. jon: fox news is america's election headquarters. right now president obama coming out swinging on the campaign trail, aggressively attacking governor romney by name. the president no longer leaving

the negative campaigning to vice president biden or other surrogates. take last night in iowa, for example. >> patriotic america, he's raised a wonderful family. he should be proud of the great personal success he's had as the ceo of a large financial firm. there are plenty of good and honest people in that industry, and there's an important creative role for it in the free market. but, but governor romney has made his experience as a financial ceo the entire rationale of his candidacy for president. jon: well, some political watchers say it's awfully early in the race for a sitting president to start calling out his challenger by name. during the 2004 race, president bush did not regularly mention senator kerry by name until july. let's talk about it with carl cameron, fox news chief political correspondent, also

fox news contributor joe joe trippi who is former campaign manager for howard dean. carl, have you ever seen this kind of thing this early, and why is it happening? >> reporter: no. this is very early. traditionally, the fall campaign kicks in really aggressively right before labor day. to have the discussion we're now having right before memorial day is historically early. if you go back to 1996, the democratic national committee before labor day did do some attacking on bob dole, but it wasn't the kind of stuff we heard last night from the incumbent president who's running for re-election. mr. obama stopped just short of calling mitt romney a liar, and because he was in iowa at the state fairgrounds, he also used some sort of barnyard rhetoric to go after romney and really sort of attack his credibility and character. at this time that really is quite rare. listen. oh, thought we had a sound bite, perhaps we don't. he essentially referred to some

of what mr. romney has said about the obama deficit as cow pies, a barnyard epithet, bovine excrement, that sort of thing. tough stuff, and it really does come early. but for president obama it's not really that uncommon. as a first-term president, he started visiting swing states like pennsylvania and ohio very aggressively in the first six months of his term. he has been out to battleground states more than any other place in the country, he has been campaigning. the super pac that supports him and his own campaign has been running ads on television, and they are attack ads in some cases, far earlier than ever before. and why? because he recognizes on the polls and the electoral map, this is very close. we've got 13 be weeks to the democratic convention. almost five and a half months, that is more than the proverbial and cliche light year for things to change, and the president's re-election could seriously be in doubt, so he's trying to define romney now. jon: all right. joe trippi, you have worked on a lot of presidential campaigns, what about the idea of

mentioning your challenger so early by name when you're the sitting president? >> well, i think two things. one is, first of all, every campaign goes out and tries to define the other candidate, and you want to do it as early as possible because that's when people are first starting to take their look. i mean, i remember in the 2004 election, um, you know, remember john kerry was a vietnam veteran. that was either going to be a plus or a negative for him. the bush campaign and republicans went out of their way, swift boats, all kinds of ways to define that in a negative way, define what would have been a strength as a negative. here with bain capital and romney talking about how he's the best jobs creator out there, their going to go -- they're going to go at this very early, it makes tremendous sense. and also the other factor that's happening here is romney got the nomination a lot earlier than usually happens. i was one of the people that thought it was going to take him

longer than it did. but because he got the nomination earlier, it now becomes crucial to find what he would say is a strength in the most negative way possible, again, as governor -- the obama campaign wants to get out there that as governor he was 47th in job creation under romney in massachusetts, wasn't a great, tell lahr performance. romney's going to make the other case. who wins that fight wins the race probably, and so obama's going to be very aggressive. jon: well, and interestingly, carl, you know, i heard sort of a shift in attitude, a turn around, you might call it a flip-flop. but earlier in the week bain capital was a horrible thing, according to the president. now the president is sort of keeping plaudits on mitt romney for his bain capital experience. >> reporter: yes and no. he's acknowledging there is a place for private equity and there are some companies that do good works, but he's managed to selectively omit mitt romney

from any of the praise. for the most part, he's suggesting that romney is a corporate raider or a businessman more inclined toward profit than people, and if that's what the democrats consider to be a swift boat attack, it really raises some serious questions because it's not about issues. swift boat attacks were about character and honesty, and mitt romney's record at bain has already been disclosed even by democrats as one that was a success. so that's part of the problem the president's facing. a lot of his own party don't like the attacks. jon: carl cameron and joe trippi, thank you both. jenna: brand new information on the state of iran's controversial nuclear program, u.n. inspectors detecting uranium traces higher than before in iran. the discovery raising fears iranian scientists could be working towards weapon-grade uranium, but diplomats say the traces found are still far below what's needed to make a nuclear bomb. iran claims its nuclear program is not intended for that, that

it's intended for peaceful purpose bees. inspectors making the discovery a at a nuclear site a high-level nuclear facility buried deep inside a mountain. again, this is thought to be as a way to protect against attacks from the united states and israel, but that's where they have it. the new findings come right after talks with iran ended without a lot of progress. this is a story we'll continue to watch for you. jon: well, the united states is reacting to the conviction of a pakistani doctor who helped the cia track down osama bin laden. a live report from islamabad coming up. jenna: we're also tracking a tropical disturbance off the coast of florida. meteorologist janice dean with the latest just ahead. jon: and before you fire up that grill this memorial day weekend, some important advice for you and your family. that's coming up.

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jon: the united states cutting aid to pakistan after a

pakistani doctor who helped us find osama bin laden gets sentenced to 33 years in prison for treason. the white house and secretary of state hillary clinton seen here in this famous photo watching the raid on bin laden's compound last may are speaking out against the doctor's conviction. >> the united states does not believe there is any basis for holding dr. afridi. we regret both the fact that he was convicted and the severity of his sentence. jon: our dominic di-natale is streaming live from islamabad with more. >> reporter: very fittingly, thewet is stirring up a dust storm just as there is a diplomatic firestorm breaking out over the doctor. he currently is on suicide watch. worries about his health as well, apparently, he is very much feeling the physical symptoms of deep depression as he comes to terms with the fact

he's going to do 33 years of hard time. his family have gone into hiding. apparently, the anti-u.s. lobby is whipping up so much fervor about the case, they are worried for their personal safety as well, and even his supporters don't speak to us publicly about his fate. again, the pakistan government for a second day is rebuffing all the protests and outcries we're seeing from the united states. in fact, one foreign office official said to me earlier on that the united states needs to take a step back in this case, it needs to take a deep breath. it is overreacting, and it's allowing the issue to become too bloated, is how he described it to me. however, there are people here in pakistan that say legally he should never have been convicted by the tribal courts that sentenced him to those 33 years of not just prison, but also hard labor as well. and they say he should have appeared in a federal court, and if he had, jon, he wouldn't have been convicted because he would have been allowed to defend

himself. we'll see where weather the movement or momentum that's gathering may eventually lead to a presidential pardon. but even with two opportunities for an appeal, it looks like that could be, indeed, his only chance because right now the appeals system doesn't appear to give him much leeway. back to you, jon. jon: a lot of americans angry over his conviction. dominic, thank you. jenna: we're going to move back stateside now. severe weather in the upper midwest. a fast-moving tornado touching down near was saw, wisconsin, toppling trees and be street lights. the national weather service says it was on the ground for about five minutes as it quickly ripped through the area. fortunately, no injuries or major structural damage reported, but still quite a mess as you see on your screen. cleanup also underway in nearby marathon county. a strong wind from the same storm system uprooting trees and damaging buildings. local greenhouses became the only shelter for travelers stranded in the dangerous

weather. witnesses say the storm came and went in the blink of an eye. >> we were helping some customers to their car, and the wind came up, and we looked across the road, and it was just like a giant whirlwind of brown dust coming at us, and branches started to fly. in a few seconds, it was all over. >> it was over so fast that i didn't even, like, couldn't even run to the basement because there was no time. it's over. jon: and a few days before the official start of the atlantic hurricane season, we're keeping an eye on a disturbance off the coast of florida right now. that system could develop into a tropical storm by tomorrow, potentially threatening folks in the area. meteorologist janice dean from the fox weather center for us. >> reporter: yes, jon, we're watching that disturbance on your screen, and it could develop. our next named storm would be westerly, and there it is, a low pressure system we are watching carefully because a lot of the storm models are showing a

definite curve to the west and perhaps landfall. what are we dealing with? not a hurricane, but it could be a tropical storm, and if it's named, it'll probably be within the next 24-48 hours. something to watch as we head into the memorial day weekend. this is hurricane bud, a category 2 hurricane on the pacific side, and we do think it could possibly make a landfall overnight tonight or just hover across the coast, the west coast of mexico. a lot of beautiful beach resorts here. so flooding is going to be a concern, landslides, mud slides, that sort of thing. very dangerous situation, so we're going to monitor that. and across the u.s. we could see the potential for severe weather across the central u.s., we could see some large hail, damaging winds and/or isolated tornadoes like we saw yesterday for this region as well as parts of the great lakes, eastern great lakes, upstate new york. we could see some large hail and damaging winds, and the other big story, guys, is the heat. we're going to break some records this weekend. so if you're outdoors for any

great length of time, you want to be extra cautious and try to get indoors in that air-conditioning. jon, back to you. jon: so there's a lot of weather to keep an eye on. >> reporter: oh, my gosh, yes. i'm bringing the whole family here on sunday. jon: janice dean, try to relax a little bit. >> reporter: talk to you later. jenna: a controversial ruling by the supreme court, critics say it limbs double -- limits double jeopardy. some calling this a radical and even dangerous decision. one of those folks, judge andrew napolitano, will join us next to explain why he's concerned about all of this. and we're also awaiting a verdict in the corruption trial of john edwards. a live report from the courthouse just minutes away. [ male announcer ] if paula ebert had her way, she would help her child. no. no no no no no. mommy's here [ male announcer ] with everything. but instead she gives him capri sun super-v. with one combined serving of fruits and vegetables. new capri sun super-v.

jon: a fox news alert and some kind of an incident at miami international airport or in the air and it winds up at the airport. harris faulkner has the story from our breaking news desk. >> reporter: yeah, jon, you put it wonderfully there because that's exactly what we're being told happened on american airlines flight 320. we are just learning i via our x affiliate that a man has been taken into custody, and you'll see a lot of not just utility vehicles pulling up to this plane, this flight, but also the investigation that we're told is ensuing with all of the squad cars that are there. this information just coming in in the last few minutes. apparently, there was a man onboard who tried to rush the cockpit, jon, and you know the fear that that incites in people on that plane. two passengers reportedly got up and restrained this man until they could land that plane. we're told nobody was hurt in this. again, one person arrested. we're learning all of this from a spokesperson at the miami international airport. we'll stay on it as we learn

more. back to you. jon: please do, harris. thank you. jenna: well, the supreme court ruling 6-3 to limit the constitution's double jeopardy clause which protects all of us from being tried twice for the very same crime. now, here's the background to this. this decision stems from the 2009 trial of arkansas native alex blueford. he was charged with murdering his girlfriend's little boy who was just under 2 years old. the jury was unanimous against guilt on the charges of capital murder and first-degree murder, and after further deliberation, was deadlocked on lesser charges. the trial judge declared a mistrial. the argument in the supreme court or in front of the supreme court was whether or not blueford could be tried again on all the charges even though the jury announced in open court that it was unanimous against convicting blue ford of the first and capital murder charges. the supreme court ruled, yes, he can be tried on all of them. you just were seeing some comments from chief justice john

roberts on your screen. he wrote in the majority opinion, quote: the jury in this case did not convict blueford of any offense, but it did not acquit him of any either. as a consequence, the double jeopardy clause does not stand in the way of a second trial on the same offenses. now, dissenting justices sonia sotomayor, ruth bader ginsburg and elena kagan faulted the court for weakening this very historic protection against double jeopardy. and agreeing with them in many of these cases when it comes to this, this particular case and this opinion, judge andrew napolitano, who joins me via the phone. judge, you say this is a dangerous departure from the -- >> well, you know i would have been dissented had i been privileged enough to sit with that august court. jenna: why? >> jenna, it's a pleasure to be on with you. it is a dangerous departure, and most respectfully the chief justice and the majority have misunderstood the nature and the history of the double jeopardy protection. you see, if the defendant does

something to invalidate the trial, antagonizes or threatens the jury and they have to start another trial, that's not double jeopardy because the defendant has caused it. but if the reason for a second child is because of something the government has done or in this case because of something the judge failed to do, you still can't try the defendant again. what did the trial judge fail to do here? he failed to reduce to writing in a formal court order the fact that the jury found the defendant not guilty of capital murder and first-degree murder. had he simply put that in writing, that would have made the acquittals formal, final and official, and we wouldn't have had this case. but because he made the mistake of not putting those acquittals in writing, the supreme court says there were no acquittals and, therefore, he can be tried again. jenna: judge napolitano, if i could, how often does that happen? >> i've never heard of this happening, jenna, because, you know, the law does not elevate

form over substance, and the law deems something to have been done at the time it should have been done. what i mean by that is once the jury says we unanimously find that he's not guilty of capital murder and first-degree murder, that is an acquittal right there on the fact that a judge or a clerk failed to put it in writing does not invalidate the acquittal. jenna: judge, if i could, why do you find this to be such a threat to the standard that we have upheld when it comes to double jeopardy? if it doesn't seem like it's going to be applied to many cases, i mean, are you nervous that it somehow will be applied to cases -- >> i am, well, first of all, a lot of things make me nervous, jenna. jenna: i know. [laughter] >> i get nervous when the court wears away or whittles down traditional protections that we have had. this protection against double jeopardy, against trying a

person more than once because of something the government does or something the court does has not been interfered with in 230 years. this is the first be -- the first material interference with this right, and i'm worried about the slippery slope. when you take away a brick here and a brick there, soon the whole house crumbles. jenna: judge napolitano, nice to have you onset and otherwise. it's a story we'll continue to watch, judge, thank you. jan jon it's game on ahead of memorial day weekend, the presidential race heating up before the unofficial start of summer. has president obama come out swinging against governor romney too early? a fair and balanced debate on that. plus, we are awaiting a historic moment in space. the world's first private spacecraft just got the go ahead to dock with the international space station. this incredible accomplishment coming up.

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jon: right now we're on verdict watch in the john edwards trial. the jury deliberating for a sixth day now on corruption charges. edwards arrived in court this morning as usual with his parents at his side. he faces up to 30 years in prison for allegedly using campaign funds to try to cover up an extramarital affair while he was running for president. doug mckelway is live in greensboro, north carolina, with an update. doug. >> reporter: jon, the first

of the six counts john edwards is facing is a conspiracy charge. specifically that he conspired to conceal campaign donations that are in excess of what federal election law requires. some of those donations came from now deceased texas billionaire fred baron. one of the 20 exhibit that is the jurors asked to see is a handwritten note baron sent in a fedex envelope to edwards' campaign aide andrew young along with a thousand dollars in cash all that while young was hiding edwards' pregnant mistress. the note reads and may be significant to jurors. old chinese saying, use cash not credit cards. >> from what we know about fred baron he was here he would tell the jury it was a joke. in the absence of fred baron to explain why he was doing what he was doing, it is pretty ominous piece of evidence that might not bode well for john edwards. >> reporter: jurors also asked to see a chart that showed a million dollars in deposits into andrew young's

accounts from baron and also from bunny mellon, an elderly heiress and contributor to the edwards campaign. the he had cards campaign maintains that money was not violation of campaign laws. rather a lot of it went to build andrew young's very expensive house in chapel hill, north carolina. jurors will be breaking for lunch at 1230. when asked by the judge if they would like to stick to their friday routine, recessing at 3:30 in the afternoon, they nodded yes. if they don't reach a verdict in make that four hours they will resume their deliberations after the long holiday weekend on tuesday. jon, we'll be here watching. jon: and the waiting goes on. thanks very much, doug mckelway. jenna: back to some politics now. we are america's election headquarters. at the top of the hour we touched on the president really taking on his

presumptive rival for the white house, governor mitt romney. the president seems to be in full campaign mode before memorial day, not content to let surrogates criticize his opponent directly. check out clips from this week and you'll see. >> governor romney, well, he's saying my 25 years in the private sector gives me a special understanding of how our economy works. what governor romney doesn't seem to get is that a healthy economy doesn't just mean a few folks maximizing their profits through massive layoffs or busting unions. my opponent, governor romney, his main calling card for why he thinks he should be president is his business experience. he is not going out there touting his experience in massachusetts. he is saying i'm a business guy and i know how to fix it and this is his business. jenna: so is it too aggressive, too soon? or a good strategy as we seem to selection cycles getting shorter and shorter.

joining us for fair and balance debate. monica crowley, radio talk show host, fox news contributor and donna genteel is former advisor to senator bob casey and former staffer for governor ed rendell. welcome, ladies. monica, i will start with you. the president is being being criticized for leading from behind. now he is aggressive. why criticize him for that? >> unusual for sitting president to strike out at opponent this early in the race because he is sitting president and should be governing and instead of campaign. the truth he has been campaigning for about a year, doing record breaking numbers of fund-raisers. so this is not unusual for him. jenna: donna, what do you think about that? is president at risk not seeming presidential by doing this? >> no. i don't think he seems at risk at all. i mean the president has a record to defend and he has an agenda to pursue. the challenge for every

president in an election cycle is to both campaign on the things that they believe in and the things that they hope to do for the future of america. so the president, this is, this is what the president should do. he is engaging this debate. it is important and the american people are ready to listen. jenna: monica, let's get it all out there, let's do it now? why wait until closer to labor day when some suggested when we really start seeing the candidates take each other on? >> right. look i think there is particular danger for obama going down this road so early by striking at mitt romney, by name himself, rather than allowing surrogates to do it for him which is the usual path. the problem for obama is this. that in 2008 he created the obama brand around this idea that he would be a transcendant kind of figure. that he would not engage in petty politicking. that he would try to bring everybody together and he would be a different kind of politician. we now know over last couple years we now know that is

not true. what is happening now because he can not run on his record, because particularly his economic record is so abysmal that he does have to look to tearing down the earth either side, going after mitt romney and attacking him. the problem for obama is hope and change is now gone and it has been replaced by scorched earth kind of strategy and i don't think that jibes with his brand. i think he will face a lot of difficulties trying to sell this. jenna: donna, in "the wall street journal" today mitt romney was quoted in peggy noonan's piece and asked about the game of politics. he says i like competition. i think the game is like a sport for old guys. i think the president might take issue with that. the president isn't quite as old as mitt romney. neither of them are that old. donna, why, is there a double-standard where mitt romney can go out and say whatever he wants about the competition, the game of politics but the president can't? is the that appropriate because getting back to the issue of the president being the president and that's just the breaks when you're

the president you have to behave differently than a regular politician? >> well i think the president is behaving differently than a regular politician and i like to just point out that when the president went to washington he did intend to commit to being a transformational leader. then he ran smack into the partisanship that surrounds washington politics. i mean, when you think about precedents that have been upended, it was phenomenal that the former vice president came out of retirement and began very early on attacking this president and very aggressively challenging him. that was an unprecedented step. so if we're going to talk about unprecedented you have to go back and look at what has happened over this period of time. and also i think it's important to point out there was a fascinating and compelling piece in "the financial times" last month where they talked about the ceo fallacy. and that fallacy is predicated on the idea if you have been a ceo in a corporation, you can run a company, pardon me, run a

country. and the president is challenging that fallacy and that is a debate that should be engaged in. >> i do think the debate what kind of president you want and i think we have seen over the last couple of years a community organizer does not make a good president either. when you talk about the partisanship, look this president had huge majorities in the congress and in the senate for his first two years. there was no partisanship. there was no republican obstructionism. this president got whatever he wanted. and now he is going to have to run on that record and frankly very bad one which is why he is trying to tear down mitt romney. jenna: now that they start so early we'll have a lot to talk about next couple months. >> joy. jenna: question comes earlier and angrier and more money where are the people in all this? we would like to have you both back it talk about that. are we losing that part, the important part of this democracy. monica, donna, nice to have you. i look forward to having you both. >> thank you. jon: we've all seen the debt clock. the nation's debt is skyrocketing but president

obama says federal spending under his watch is the lowest in decades. "wall street journal" editorial page editor paul gigot joins us next to weigh in on the president's claims. new concerns about wildfires burning in one part of the country. a warning to people who live nearby about the air they have to breathe does your phone share what you are seeing and hearing right now

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droid does. does it post it instantly to facebook with sound ? droid does. droid with color for facebook. it's the ultimate status update. get a droid razr maxx by motorola for only $199.99. jon: right now the economy is the greatest concern for president obama in making his re-election bid. he is saying the deficit is not his fault and defending his record on spending. take a listen. >> listen. the debt and deficit are serious problems and it is true that the depth of the recession added to the debt. a lot more folks were looking for unemployment insurance. a lot fewer folks were paying taxes because they weren't making money. so that added to the debt. our efforts to prevent it

from becoming a depression, helping auto industry, making sure that not as many teachers were laid off, all those things added to the debt. but what my opponent didn't tell you was that federal spending since i took office has risen at the slowest pace of any president in almost 60 years. [cheers and applause] jon: let's talk about those claims with paul gigot. he is the editorial page editor of "the wall street journal" so what the president would have us belief he has done a great job i guess of managing our federal spending. has he? >> the only thing i think you can agree with him on he did inherit a recession that did increase spending, there is no question about that. the problem he has is the recession ended officially, in the middle of 2009. and yet spending has continued to increase at the same kind of pace. since world war ii the share,

the best measure of spending is how much of the whole economy does the federal government spend? what percentage does it take? it has never been above 24%, except for the last four years since world war ii. we have had $700 billion increase in spending. average of about 5.2% a year, according to glen kessler of "the washington post" who looked at the claims the president made and compared them to reality. this is, i know he wants to say it is not his fault but i don't think the facts add up. jon: he is saying that essentially. yeah i know you're all concerned about the level of spending that we're doing out there in this huge deficit but it is really george bush's fault. >> in the last year, last year-and-a-half since the republican house came in they actually tried to reduce the pace of spending of the president has resisted them at every step of the way. so now to claim i am the guy who controlled spend is a very difficult claim to make. jon: he could also i suppose make the point that i am the

guy who submitted a budget that got zero votes in the united states senate. >> that happens. democrats don't want to be associated with it. if you look at the spending facts and the record and deficit and spending is not where i have the debate if i were him. would i want to debate other things. jon: i'm sure you'll be talking about it this weekend on your program. paul, thank you. you can catch him host the "journal editorial report". at 2:00 p.m. here on fox news channel. holiday weekend means burgers on the grill but firing up that barbecue can be a pretty risky event. steve brown is on grill watch for us. steve? well we think steve is on grill watch but he can't hear him just at the moment. >> reporter: jon, yeah, i hope you like well-done. if you don't want the house well-done you need to come back an catch our grilling

tips to make sure your weekend --

jenna: want to jump ahead to the who holiday weekend. we still have a lot of show. jon: keep watching. >> unofficial start of summer many of us are firing up the grills for the first time. but the flames could be dangerous even deadly in fact. from 2005 to 2009 fire departments nationwide responded to an average of 8200 house fires every year because of barbecues. steve brown officially has the hottest story of the day, no pun intended or, totally intended. steve a little bit different than covering protests in chicago. getting a bit of a break today but a serious topic. >> reporter: it is a serious

topic especially consider how much damage is done simply by a fwril. john is here with underwriters laboratory. that is grill way too goes to the house. does this typically happen a lot? >> 8,000 times a year fires occur because of grilling incidents. it occurs too often than we imagine. >> reporter: you're testing how quickly things burn all the time. >> ul is a safety science company and we do a lot of research. this is something we do routinely. right now we have a grill overheated and way too close to the house. number one drill grilling tip, grill outdoors. keep it away from the garage, carport and house. >> reporter: what is safe distance from the house or anything you don't want burned? >> did difficult to estimate that but 10 feet is good distance. keep it away from anything that combustible too. could be flowers, could be other things that could catch fire. >> reporter: now it is really important also if you have a got a grill going that somebody is watching

it. a lot of times you put it on, walk away, go answer the phone, fix something else in the house, working on some other side dish, you're walking away from it a lot. >> steve, that is another very good point. unattended cook something leading cause of home fires in the united states from inside cooking as well as outside cooking. keep an eye on it. that is difficult to do. you're grilling outside. you want to get some more food or salad whatever it might be for the festivities. the fact you can't watch it all the time. know you have a grill going there. if you have a flare-up like you're seeing now, it could be dangerous and deadly. >> reporter: how quickly do you put it out if it starts up like this? >> make sure you can put the lid on it if you can get close to it. if you gone this far and house catching on fire, get everybody out call 911. fit is small and contained, turn the lid off if it is a gas grill and get the grill away from the house. >> reporter: this is three minutes since the grill was parked there burning like it

is. very important. safety first. great holiday weekend comes second. jenna: great message. i hope you have marshmellows while you're doing hits throughout the day. grill is making me nervous. >> off the vinyl siding with the marshmellows. jenna: good point, steve. good tips for us as well. steve brown, thank you very much. jon: it was 33 years ago today that a little boy disappeared on his way to school in new york city. we're now awaiting the arraignment of the man who confessed police say to the murder of 6-year-old etan pats. but is a confession enough to close this cold case for good? also you know inspectors make startling discovery in iran raising concerns where the rogue nation stands in its pursuit of nuclear weapons. what they found and how it could affect high-level talks with iran coming up. [ game announcer ] popped up towards the stands.

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another cup of coffee? [ crowd cheering ] how long is this one going to last? forty-five minutes? an hour? well... listen. 5-hour energy lasts a whole lot of hours. take one in the afternoon, and you'll feel alert and energized 'til the cows come home. it's packed with b-vitamins and nutrients to make it last. so what's it going to be, partner? 5-hour energy. wise choice. 5-hour energy. hours and hours of energy. jon: a potentially dangerous holiday weekend in new mexico as crews battle a raging wildfire

that tripled in size over the past two days. we're live with a new warning from health officials. new developments in the so-called spray tan murder trial in florida. as the prosecution rests, could adam kaufman take the stand in his own defense? screw and at least week underway in new york city this holiday weekend. we'll get a unique look inside the oldest-working ship in the coast guard fleet as we remember those who served our country this memorial day. jon: "happening now," some new evidence about the growing nuclear threat from iran. hello again, once -- jenna: once again? jon: how about that? i'm jon scott. [laughter] jenna: we're almost there. it's friday, everybody, we're glad you're with us, i'm jenna lee, and it's been a really busy week especially when it comes to what we're dealing with iran. u.n. inspectors have found

higher traces of uranium. it could mean, it could mean the country is closer to producing nuclear weapons. the traces, though, are said to be enriched up to 27%, still well below the level needed, but it is causing some concern. it's more than iran's highest known enrichment grade, so as that moves up, people get more concerned about iran's potential nuclear capabilities. former senior director at middle eastern affairs, the national security council, currently the managing director at the washington institute for near east policy. there's been a lot of news about iran, we've had talks in baghdad. give us a progress report. has there been progress made? >> well, really, no, jenna, not from the perspective of the p5 plus 1. there's no agreement coming out of baghdad. all we've got, frankly, is another meeting happening in moscow in the middle of june, so the can gets kicked down the road. i think, though, what this discovery today points to is

there has been some progress from iran's point of view. the discussions that took place in baghdad focused on iran's 20% enrichment. in other words, not its full enrichment program, not all its nuclear activities, but just its sort of highest grade nuclear activities. and now they're pushing beyond that. so it seems iran is following the strategy of sort of the frog in the boiling pot of water. getting the west to gradually accept more and more nuclear capability in iran while they, frankly, don't give up much. jenna: so what do we do? >> i think what we need to do is change n a sense, the dynamic in these negotiations, and instead of sort of offering iran this incentive or that incentive in exchange for some sort of modest concessions on their nuclear program, iran really needs to feel as though their choice is either give up their nuclear weapons program or face very severe penalties, perhaps including military action or tougher sanctions on their oil sector. i don't think they have that feeling right now, and we have

to accept we're not going to charm them into giving this up. jenna: they have said repeatedly and consistently, michael, that they are going to continue with their nuclear program despite anything that's being offered, and we can get to what's being offered, despite any of the sanctions, they've been very consistent that this is what they're going to do. so at this point is there anything we can offer besides an armed conflict, besides war that's going to convince them of otherwise, and would even an armed conflict do that, or would it just create more violence and more energy towards this nuclear program? >> well, jenna, i think we these to realize that for the iranians this nuclear weapons program is strategically vital. they've been pursuing it now for many years, they've invested quite a bit of money in it, and they've endured quite a few sanctions as a result of having this program. so in terms of what we are asking them to give up, this is something very important. and just the kind of modest incentives that we're offering them at these negotiations are unlikely to sway them. jenna: should we offer more? i mean, what could we offer? >> i think, jenna, this is about

the survival of the regime in their mind, in tehran's mind, this nuclear weapons program. so really what i think we have to do is say, look, you know, if you keep going down this road, then that in itself, the nuclear work in itself will threaten the regime because we will threaten military action, even more comprehensive sanctions. and we're not doing that right now, i think, in the way that we these to. jenna: just a real quick final thought, where do you think israel is in the all of this, as far as being close to striking iran and its nuclear facilities? do you think we're closer to that now based on the talks? do you think we're farther away? what's your assessment of that? >> i think we're probably closer. you know, it's hard for israel, i think, to strike while the negotiations are going on, but israel, i think, is not happy with the fact that the talks did not result in any kind of agreement, but they're also unhappy with the negotiating strategy taken by the united states and the p5 plus 1, that we're only demanding a halt to the 20% enrichment, and now we see that iran is even going beyond that. jenna: yeah.

i wonder if we change that number eventually as we have changed what we've wanted from iran and they've, again, been very consistent about what they want to do. michael, it's nice to have you. thank you so much. >> thank you, jenna. jon: some new information in the case of a pakistani doctor sentenced to 33 years in prison for helping our cia track down osama bin laden. former u.s. intelligence officers now blasting the obama administration for not protecting shaquille afridi who was convicted of treason in pakistan. wendell goler is tracking this story for us. >> reporter: jon, the criticism comes from peter brooks with the conservative heritage foundation and anthony schafer who wrote about intelligence failures before the 9/11 attacks. they say the u.s. should have had a plan to get the doctor out of pakistan after bin laden's death, though it's unclear the doctor would have wanted to leave. administration officials deny outing afridi. one says, quote: the pakistanis found the doctor on their own.

identities of human sources are sacrosanct in the intelligence community. but new york republican congressman peter king says they had a tip. >> there was too much loose talk coming from the white house, and there was even talk of dna, how dna samples were going to be used. that caused the pakistani authorities to start rounding up health, individuals, health care individuals including doctors, including the doctor who actually had been working for us. >> reporter: actually, pakistani officials say the plan to get the dna had a weakness in that afridi was overseeing a free vaccination program in a relatively well-to-do neighborhood, and he wasn't even from that part of the country. they never did get any dna from bin laden's children, and now afridi's been sentenced to 33 years in prison, u.s. officials are appealing to pakistani authorities that he ought to be treated like a hero, not a criminal. >> we regret both the fact that he was convicted and the severity of his sentence.

his help, after all, was instrumental in taking down one of the world's most notorious murderers. >> reporter: the senate has passed a bill cutting aid to pakistan by $33 million, a million for each year of dr. afridi's sentence. congressman king thinks the house will probably follow suit. jon? jon: wendell goarl at the white house, thank you. it is such an important story not only for our intelligence community, but also for our troops in the region and our security in the united states. so why has the media largely given this story a pass? we will hash it out with our news watch panel just ahead. jenna: look forward to that. are you seeing any lower prices at the pump? are you? there are some signs of relief at the start of the summer driving season. as you look over the last month, gas prices on the national average have gone down about 18 cents, the national average is at $3.66. so is that it? is that all? we're not going to see higher

prices as we saw a couple months ago? fox business network's robert gray is here. what are you hearing, robert? >> reporter: well, looks like the trend is going to continue to be lower. a couple of months ago we were hearing these dire voices of do you doom, $4, $5 a gallon. falling every day over the past two weeks by at least a penny a day so, clearly, the trend has been lower. we've got a couple of reasons for this, we've got supplies at near 20-year highs according to some analysts, and we've also seen the global demand called into question here. a lot of concerns we see slowdowns in china, in europe and even concerns about our own economic recovery here at home. what you will find is, also, a big disparity from state to state. we joke all the time in this area, people driving into new jersey to fill up so much cheaper there than in new york city proper. and in connecticut and some other places because of the taxes. also supply concerns, if you're on the west coast, you know this well. california looking at an average

of $4.31 a gallon versus north carolina where it's $be 3.53 a gallon, jenna, so big disparities there. the lower gasoline prices mean more people on the highway this weekend by 1% more, almost 31 million people according to aaa. jenna: that's a good point. robert, just real quick. we were just talking about iran. does it seem like any of the potential, a potential crisis with iran is already priced into the market? so, you know, traders and analysts have already thought about that, or is that something that could reemerge if something happened? >> oh, i think it would reemerge. a lot of analysts sort of have seen a lot of that premium coming out of the market. remember, we were at $110 a barrel earlier this year, and a lot of that was a fear premium about iran. and then as we've seen, you know, that come off the table a little bit, and it's been a lot quieter there as well as the whole global growth question and, quite frankly, some investors over the past couple of weeks have had to sell a lot of assets when we've seen

stocks, gold and crude all coming down considerably. so there are a lot of factors at play but, yes, a lot of the analysts say a premium for iran could jump back up very quickly if things get dicey. jenna: the markets remind us of that, when we get a little too calm. >> reporter: that's right. jenna: robert, thank you very much. >> reporter: sure. jon: a fox news alert for you now and an update on that incident involving an unruly passenger onboard a plane that landed at miami international airport. harris, what's the latest? is. >> reporter: as you can imagine, a lot of information coming in now. we have quite a few people who are expected to travel over this holiday weekend. right now we've got information coming in from the customs and border law enforcement saying that they, in fact, have taken the passenger aboard this flight that has landed in miami on its way back from jamaica, they have taken this man into custody. and from what the tsa is saying, he apparently did not actually try to storm the cockpit, but seemed disoriented. now, local police in miami are saying he may have been

intoxicated, but we haven't been able to firmly confirm that detail. what we do know is people thought he was disoriented, and the key fact in all of this is that two passengers restrained this man. they were actually on the runway already, so they were actually already on the ground, but they decided to meet them out of an abundance of caution is what the tsa is saying, quote-unquote, meet the plane with law enforcement to take this man into custody. he would not listen to the flight attendants onboard retake his seat, and again, he appeared disoriented. that's what we know so far. nobody injured in all of this, but i've got to say, you want those kinds of passengers on your flight, don't you, jon? jon: no, thank you. >> reporter: keeping an eye out. jon: i want the attentions who tackled the guy, yeah. i was a little confused there, harris, thank you. jenna: me neither. [laughter] let that guy take the bus, right? jon: by all means. jenna: goodness sakes. more on that as we get it. in the meantime, we have casey

anthony back in the spotlight today. a new report detailing how her time on probation is apparently changing her. we'll tell you more about that. and we're less than two weeks away from the wisconsin recall election. what top union officials say democrats in washington have not done that's making them mad. c'mon dad! i'm here to unleash my inner cowboy. instead i g heartburn. [ horse neighs ] hold up partner. prilos isn't for fast relief. try alka-seltzer. it kills heartburn fast. yeehaw!

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jon: right now some top union officials are lashing out at democrats in washington saying they haven't done enough to help unseat wisconsin governor scott walker in the upcoming june 5th recall election. president obama's campaign endorsed walker's opponent, milwaukee mayor tom barrett be, but has since been sigh left, and the democratic national committee sent out a fundraising e-mail for him but didn't give the state any party money. bob cusack is managing editor of "the hill." why do you suppose the president

hasn't said anything publicly about the walker recall, bob? >> well, jon, i mean, that's what a lot of union officials are raising the question of. they're growing more and more frustrated. remember that unions have been working on this issue for well over a year. this is going to be a huge election, we're ten days out, and the problem i think for the president, in a tough spot because walker is up, but it's only single digits. so if president obama or joe biden goes down to wisconsin, makes the case and then walker wins, well, that's, you know, the president's going to lose a little political capital. but unions are saying, listen, you can make the difference. they want money, they want exposure because, certainly, mitt romney's talking a lot about this race, and there's a ton of super pac money from the right support being walker. so it's mounting frustration from unions. jon: well, the president talks about, you know, union workers and is trying to galvanize support among union members. why doesn't he put his, i don't know, i want to say put his money where his mouth is, but

why not put his reputation or whatever out there on this issue? >> well, he might. i mean, certainly as union voices get louder on this, i mean, remember, wisconsin is a battleground state, leans a little left, but it's going to be a battleground in november. so unions are saying, listen, you need to help us out because it's all going to be about turnout on june 5th. and if they lose this, it would be a demoralizing loss for the left because this has been such a top priority, to get walker out of office. but it remains to be seen what the president and the democratic national committee are going to do. union officials are saying they need to do a lot more. jon: well, the dnc has money to spend, right? they could write a big check if they wanted to. >> yeah, well, this is the frustration with democrats on capitol hill too. they want some money to win back the house and retain the senate, and so far the dnc has said not yet. so that also shows some apprehension, i think, about the president's chances for re-election. they want to make sure that the president is in a firm position

before they dole out any of that cash, and that has led to some intraparty tension. the one thing that president obama has done well, i think, over the last six months is unify the party and get the unions behind him who were not too crazy about the trade deals he pushed last year. but this is jeopardizing that unity right now. jon: so what would be the downside for him? if he's got such union support, if he has galvanized unions, what's the harm in going to wisconsin and telling unions to get behind the effort to unseat governor walker? >> well, if he loses, if he goes there and walker loses, that's a big win for the president. but if he actually goes there, makes the case, tries to rally the base and then they fall short, there would be a lot of headlines that not only are wisconsin democrats losing as well as the mayor who is running against walker, tom barrett, but the president loses as well. jon: so you're afraid, he's afraid -- that is, you're saying he's afraid of losing?

>> yeah. no, that's true. and in some special elections in the house, president obama has not decided to get involved because of that. and that's -- we're ten days out. i mean, something could change and, certainly, the left is thinking a lot changes between now and then because they think they can win this, but they want to have more washington democratic money and more involvement from the white house. jon: well, they've got a pretty big hill to climb, at least based on the polls i've seen, to try to oust the governor there. >> yes. the governor is favored right now. thank you, jon. jenna: to new mexico next where there's some raging wildfires causing big problems well beyond the fire lines. the dangerous air quality conditions and all the breaking details in a live report just ahead. plus, exactly 33 years to the day after this little boy disappeared, we're awaiting the arraignment of a man who confessed to murdering 6-year-old etan patz. so what are the next steps in this case? where's justice in all of this? our legal panel weighs in just ahead. how much coffee are you fellows going to need today?

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jon: right now a warning for people in albuquerque, new mexico. they're being told to close their windows and stay indoors. take a look at why. a huge wildfire spreading some potentially dangerous smoke nearby. harris faulkner is in the newsroom with that for us. >> reporter: let me tell you just a couple of details that are just coming in now, jon. 110 square miles, 70,000 acres already burning. this is in the gila national forest, and it is burning now toward -- and we've known this -- that smoke is now going toward the city of albuquerque, so they have what's called a smoke alert. and what some of the fire officials are calling winds and erratic flames have picked up, and they are concerned that people with any sort of respiratory condition, or even if you don't, they want you to close your windows and try and

spend as much time indoors as you possibly can. this warning is not a short one. it goes all the way through the weekend, and on sunday they will assess to see if situation has gotten better. this fire has done nothing but grow larger in the last few days in which we've been following it. the u.s. forest service, as we know, we've been telling people, has had to evacuate certain areas. there's a subdivision called willow creek, and the winds were whipping so fiercely midweek this week that that's where those evacuations were. they lost seven small buildings and 12 homes. summer homes, and the people who were living there and working in that area had to get out. we'll keep everybody posted on the situation as we go through the weekend with this now dire warning, smoke alert. people are not to take this lightly. it can be very dangerous if, in fact, you do have asthma or any sort of respiratory illness and you're in this area. back to you. jon: and there's a lot of timber in there yet to burn. >> reporter: lots of fuel.

jon: harris, thank you. jenna: "happening now," the suspect in a 33-year-old murder mystery is reportedly on suicide watch. pedro hernandez is his name. he's expected to be arraigned today despite that. new york city police say he confessed to killing 6-year-old etan patz back in 1969. apparently, the confession says that hernandez strangled this little boy just a few steps from his home. we're not clear on the motive or a lot of details except for the confession which we're starting to hear more about. former federal prosecutor fred tecce is with us. we've seen them so many times, fred, and just the loss of a child, you know, it never gets any easier even to talk about. and i just wonder for the family what's going to happen next. i mean, what are the steps? we have a confession from someone, but as far as actual evidence, we don't know what we have. so what is next? >> well, we don't know what we have, jenna, and you're

absolutely right. as you've heard me say, i've got four sons. i look at that picture, and my heart just breaks for this family who never moved and never changed their phone number in case their little boy came back. but to answer your question, he's going to be arraigned on second-degree murder, and i've got a lot of questions about what's going on here. what physical evidence do the police have that corroborates this guy's confession? you know, what do they have that makes them believe this isn't just some guy who's decided to confess to this murder? jenna: and, chip, on that, you know, if you were the defense attorney and this is your client, is there even a strategy? do you just take this confession as the truth, or are you also concerned maybe this guy's some crazy guy that just decided he's going to make this confession? >> well, confession might be good for the soul, but it makes the job of a criminal defense attorney very difficult. new york has a very interesting law though. it says that a confession all by itself without some evidence that an actual crime took place

is not admissible. right now there's no body except for the individual's confession about how it happened, there is no physical evidence. and that confession might not be able to come to the sources in new york because of this very particular law that new york has. jenna: so then what? i mean, then what, chip? does that mean he would never have a trial? >> well, no, that's the reason why the continued investigation is so extraordinarily important in this particular case. the police are going to go back after listening to the confession and see if they can find some type of corroboration, that the way and the manner that this confessed murder took place actually did take place that way. without it, that confession doesn't come in. jenna: so, fred, if confession does hold up and there is some evidence and, again, we have limited information right now about what that evidence could potentially be, what would this man face? would he face the death penalty? >> well, in 1979 when the crime took place, new york didn't have a death penalty as a lot of other states where they've been struck down, so i think that's off the table.

even -- and he's been charged with second-degree murder which unless the state can show that the murder was committed in connection with a sex crime or a rape or sexual abuse and the victim was, obviously, under 14, then the charges, believe it or not, the penalties are 15-25 years imprisonment. so at the end of the day, you know, the state has to do more. and if you believe this guy's testimony, chip raises a great point. i don't know how the state corroborates it. he says that he strangled the little boy, put him in a bag and then disposed of the body in a basement that's been there for 33 years. i don't understand how the state corroborates that, and i think this is a tough case for the state to begin with. jenna: so could he walk free, chip? even if he has this confession that, apparently, is so thorough, but there's no evidence? is that a real possibility that this man maybe never serves any time behind bars? and well, it is a real possibility if they don't find the corroborating evidence. and just remember, in the dna evidence which we don't have in this case, we have found after

false identity, the number two people that people get off the hook off once the real dna evidence comes in is their own confession. so this is the reason why new york law requires there be some type of corroboration other than the confession itself that this is the way it happened. jenna: wow. again, going back to this family, you just want some justice and some resolution for the family, and you wonder if they're really going to get it here. fred and chip, it's nice to have you. we'll have you both back, thank you. >> thanks. jon: with the big bemoil day weekend -- memorial day weekend upon us, one group is calling for tough new standards for dui offenders. why some critics say a new proposal is a bad idea. plus, the u.s. faces another serious problem with pakistan right now after this doctor who helped the cia track down osama bin laden is sentenced to 33 years in prison at hard labor for doing it. so why has the media largely given this story a pass? our news watch panel weighs in next.

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jon: a fox news alert, check out some cool pictures coming in live from our florida station, wsvn. a full-sized replica of the space shuttle is there on that barge at the left of your screen. that is the tugboat towing the thing on the right. that is the shuttle explorer. if you've ever visited the kennedy space center and took a walk through a real shuttle

mock-up, this is the one that you went through. that shuttle has been loaded on that barge, well, the barge is just off screen -- there's the view of it. you can see that squarish appendage up near the nose cone of the shuttle. that's, i'm guessing, the door where visitor were able to sort of walk through and into the shuttle. this thing is not really airworthy, and they probably wouldn't want to spend it to the money to tack it to the back of the 747 and fly it to houston which is its eventual home, that's why it's riding on a barge all the way from kennedy space center to houston, and it's going to be there june 1st. so if you're out there along the gulf coast and you see a shuttle float by -- jenna: believe your eyes, that's what's happening. jon: enjoy the ride. shuttle explorer. jenna: you certainly don't see that every day. jon: no, you don't. jenna: well, an interesting debate has emerged over drunk driving now.

a national safety group is proposing putting breathalyzers in all cars of dui offenders, preventing drivers from starting up their cars if device detects any alcohol. but several groups are fighting this saying it's going to hurt business, it's going to cost states millions of dollars, and congress is currently discussing the issue. adam houseley's live in our l.a. bureau with more. adam? >> reporter: yeah, jenna. really the debate's over whether or not these alcohol-testing devices should be many cars for all dui offenders, first-time or not. there's some suggestion they should be in all cars period whether you're a dui offender or not. right now only 16 states require them for all, the ignition interlocks for anyone who's been convicted of a dui offense including first-time offenders. there's another seven states also considering it as well. most states only require ignition locks for hard core or repeat offenders, so you really have two different issues there, the ones required for all offenders and the ones required

for only hard core offenders. a recent study in washington state found that an interlock law reduces reoffenders by 12%, and the higher rate of insulation of these devices, the lower the chances of repeat offenders. but opponents argue there shouldn't be a one side -- one size fits all punishment. >> ignition laws could go even further with that if they were publicized really broadly so that all drivers, not just people who have been convicted of dui, know that if they're caught, one of the penalties they're going to receive is putting an interlock on their vehicle. >> our concern is that these low bac first-time offender mandates that groups like madd and people in the federal government are pushing for, really what it's about is treating all americans like criminals. >> reporter: now, research finds that 75% of offenders drive illegally after the dwi

arrest, and one problem, of course, with the ignition interlocks is that compliance rates, two-third of all offenders don't even install the court-mandated interlocks. the american beverage institute which represents about 8,000 restaurants in the country, they say the cost to states to institute all of this is about $430 million at the very least, and they say at this time states don't have that kind of money to enforce this type of legislation. jenna: a lot to this story, adam, thank you. jon: a pakistani doctor convicted of treason and sentenced to 33 years in prison. why? because he helped the u.s. cia track down osama bin laden. it's a story that's not getting an awful lot of media attention this week as u.s. lawmakers fire back at pakistan using the power of the purse. and fresh accusations from former u.s. intelligence officers blasting the white house over its handling of dr. shakil afridi. so why have the media largely taken a pass on this story?

the let's get to our news watch panel about it. with us now, investigative reporter and author judith miller and daily beast columnist, kirsten powers. a lot of people didn't know about this guy, judy, but now that, you know, his contribution to the effort to find osama bin laden has been exposed and now that he's basically paying for the it with life in prison under this pakistani sentence, why don't the u.s. media seem too concerned? >> well, i think, first of all, it's foreign news, and if you really take a look at what the networks are putting on the news lately, you're not seeing a lot of foreign news stories, jon. you're not seeing egypt, the egyptian elections, the fact that egypt this week was choosing between not only a president, but going in an islamic or secular direction. you haven't seen the slaughter in syria day after day, 30 syrians a day. foreign news is expensive to produce, it's expensive to put on the air, it's hard to get the pictures.

but beyond that i think with this story because it has such an important american element, that is the killing of bin laden, there's great sensitivity among reporters that we might actually make his situation worse by highlighting his role in the freeing of bin landen -- in the killing of bin laden. so if you notice, there hasn't been anything from the white house about what this man actually did to help get the most notorious criminal in the world. jon: so you think that perhaps the sort of blackout of news coverage might be a good thing? >> i think it could help him since he is regarded as a traitor, not as a hero, but a traitor in the pack pakistan. jon: it's interesting to me, kirsten, because this seems to be one of the rare incidents of bipartisan cooperation in washington. i mean, you get senators as disparate as john mccain from the republican side and patrick leahy from the democratic side who are condemning pakistan for

putting this guy in prison for a 33-year sentence at hard labor which most people say amounts to a death sentence. >> yeah. well, i mean, i would certainly defer to judy on this if she thinks it's better there isn't coverage. it seems like something that the united states should be trying to do something about, and certainly what the, what congress has been doing about looking at cutting off their aid is probably the best way to approach it. because, look, if pakistan believes it's treason to help find osama bin laden, that pretty much tells you everything you need to know about where pakistan is in terms of the war on terror. jon: yeah. and, well, judy, i mean, osama bin laden was no friend to the pakistanis. [laughter] it helped them out to get rid of him, they were just embarrassed by the way we did it. >> absolutely right. and i'm not defending the decision by any means not to call attention to this case. i would actually argue that it's not helping him by trying to silence this. but i think that many reporters

are very nervous about making his situation worse. i think that with pakistan this has to be raised to a level in which the united states indicates, as hillary clinton, secretary of state, has done that the united states cares deeply and that the world -- not just the united states, but the world -- will judge pakistan by how it reacts with respect to justice for this man. you know, he was tried under colonial rules in a tribal area without the right of lawyer, the right to cross-examine witnesses. his family is under virtual house arrest. his treatment is shocking and outrageous, and the united states should, in my view, do more than it's doing. but many reporters are nervous about making things worse for him inside his own country, and that's a very difficult call to make. jon: well, kirsten, you've worked on capitol hill. is it possible there is some behind-the-scenes diplomacy going on here that we are not privy to? >> well, one would certainly

hope there is. i think that's probably the most likely way to get some sort of change in this situation. though, you know, in terms of public pressure i'm not sure how much pakistan really cares what the world thinks of them or what we think of them. but they probably do care about the money that they get from us. jon: they do care about the money we send their way. [laughter] >> they do. jon: that's the tap that could be drying up if these actions in the u.s. senate are any indication. judy and kirsten, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> thank you. jon: well, we'll have more from our fox news watch panel tomorrow. it runs 2:30 eastern time hosted by yours truly. it's right here on fox news channel. we cover the coverage. jenna: big news from outer space. the crew of the international space station making history today by catching, if you will, a dragon. the spacex dragon rocket. it made it. a live report on a big development in the future of space exploration next. jon: cool. [ banker ] mike and brenda found a house that they really wanted.

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jon: a first in space history, the dragon makes it to dock at the international space station. the dragon is a private spacecraft, privately launched and flown to the iss. it arrived at the space outpost today making the dragon the world's first commercial delivery ship in orbit. phil keating is live from our miami bureau with more. phil? >> reporter: hi, jon. as you saw in that picture, the dragon capsule, the very first private space capsule to be birthed with the international space straight is parked and locked in place. that means california-based spacex makes space history. about 200 miles up above the earth, that is where all of the high drama in low earth orbit happened today. that capsule now fully connected with the space station. this was supposed to take about three hours after it was grappled, but the entire day took significantly longer than

it was supposed to. one critical delay was a problem with the lidar which uses light detection to measure speed and distance after the scientists and engineers on the planet fixed that, the capsule then slowly moved from 30 meters to 10 meters out, and then that robotic arm -- guided by nasa's don pettitte -- grappled the dragon. keep in mind, one false move could have bumped the capsule out of control, threatening a billion dollar public/private investment off into space. >> capture is confirmed. [applause] >> congratulations on a wonderful capture. made a lot of folks -- you have made a lot of folks happy. >> houston, thanks. it looks like we have got us a dragon by the tail. >> reporter: that quick joke did get some smiles there in houston as well as out in california. a lot of elation especially at spacex, the creator and founder of paypal also has the tesla

electronic sports car company, he invested more than $100 million of his own money into this. this is, basically, half a million in private capital, half a million in nasa seed money and several years in the making, and now it accomplished really what has been a big challenge with a lot of competition from other space companies in the united states right now also trying to get up into space. the plan is dragon will be unloaded after owl of its thousand pounds -- all of its thousand pounds of supplies. on saturday this mission will be totally complete when the dragon leaves and then splashes down in the pacific ocean via three big parachutes next thursday. and the plan for spacex is to segway from ferrying cargo only to the space station to ferrying humans up and down within three years. jon? jon: very cool to see some american technology successful there. phil keating in miami, thank you. >> reporter: absolutely.

jenna: wow, they did it, huh? jon: yeah, they did. excellent. jenna: it's really something. as we get ready for memorial day this weekend, "happening now" had a unique opportunity for fleet week, taking an up close and personal tour of america's tall ship from a very unique viewpoint. we have that next. 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'. on my journey across america, live the regular life. i found new ways to tell people about saving money. this is bobby. say hello bobby. hello bobby.

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jenna: well, the memorial day weekend is upon us, and fleet week is in full swing right here in the big apple, celebrating the achievements of our brave men and women in uniform. and i had the privilege, the deep privilege recently of taking a climb on the u.s. coast guard cutter eagle. the eagle is called america's tall ship for a reason. take a look. captain jones, this is one of the oldest ships in the fleet?

>> for the coast guard, he's 76 years old. yes, she's the oldest. jenna: and what does this ship do in. >> well, eagle, her primary mission is to train coast guard academy cadets and coast guard officer candidates, basically, acquainting them with the ocean teaching them teamwork, leadership and all the various skills, navigation, fire fighting, the routine of the day at sea so that they can serve on coast guard cutters throughout the fleet. jenna: so would a ship like this go into battle? >> no. [laughter] she was actually built as a training ship by germany at the opening months of world war ii, and she was a war reparation to the united states after world war ii. jenna: but no longer. >> absolutely not. jenna: we often think about the coast guard, we think about the video you might see of people being rescued at sea. the people that do that rescuing, the active members of the coast guard, have some of

them been on this ship? >> absolutely. when you meet an officer in the coast guard, usually in charge of a ship or a sector in one of your major ports, they more than likely have trained onboard eagle. because it takes so many people to handle eagle's 23 sails, it naturally lends itself to teamwork, coordination and communication. jenna: and so how many people would be on this ship at any one time? >> i normally sail during the summer with anywhere between 205 and 230? jenna: how challenging is that? a lot of different personalities. >> it is, absolutely. a ship is a community in its own right, and so you have to deal -- you get to see each other at your best and your worst, and you get to see the ocean at her best and worst. jenna: that's what i think would be the scariest part. i mean, standing up here during a storm would be really nerve-wracking. have you been through some really bad storms and some bad seas? >> we certainly -- absolutely. two years ago we caught the back side of hurricane alex, and we

had a wonderful ride. it was rough, but the ship was traveling at 14 knots for two days straight, and we tore across the gulf of mexico. and, again, there were perhaps a few that were seasick, and there were moments when everyone was uncomfortable, but everyone's got great sea stories to tell about it. jenna: what do you think americans should just know about the coast guard and what you do? >> well, we're proud to be part of the three sister sea services, the navy, the marine corp.s and the coast guard, and we've been around serving together since the war of 1812 when it was the revenue marine, the marines and the u.s. navy. as a matter of fact, this weekend, fleet week new york, is part of our commemoration of the bicentennial of the war of 1812. jenna: wow. what does it mean, memorial day, to you? >> oh, gosh. i mean, for me when i get stopped op the street and someone says thank you for your service, all i can say is i'm honored to be able to serve. for me i always think back to my father who served in the vietnam

and, obviously, to all those who served in world war ii and the hardships they faced and really for memorial day, i really think they're the ones to honor the most, but certainly those men and women right now that are over in the middle east and the other conflict areas in the world, they're the ones that we should always be thinking of first and foremost. and with the hope that the young men and women that are training on eagle here are the ones that'll next be standing in for that service. jenna: well said, captain jones. and thank you to captain jones and his entire crew for letting us take a climb there. we appreciate it. we'll be right back with more "happening "happening now." look at the car! my dad's gonna kill me dude... [ male announcer ] the security of a 2012 iihs top safety pick. the volkswagen passat.

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or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing skin or eyes. tell your doctor about all your medicines, including those for migraine and while on cymbalta, call right away if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles or serious allergic skin reactions like blisters, peeling rash, hives, or mouth sores to address possible life-threatening conditions. talk about your alcohol use, liver diase and before you reduce or stop cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may ocr upon standing. ask your doctor about cymbalta. imagine you with less pain. cymbalta can help. go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer. jon: as this memorial day weekend arrives, want to leave you with this story, once a marine, always a marine, out to honor those who died in the 9/11 attacks and helped wounded service members, and fighting for all of us. he plans to