>> a fox news alert, remnants of tropical storm, battering the south this memorial day. good morning everyone i'm gregg jarrett in for bill hemmer. julie: i'm juliet huddy in for martha maccallum, the storm hitting parts of georgia an south carolina now. gregg: we have maria molina from the fox weather center. we're going to hear from her, but first to elizabeth in jacksonville, florida. >> reporter: not exactly the way you want to spend memorial day weekend. we're getting heavy wind bands, although paling in comparison to yesterday, the storm fell between 1:00 am

-- 12:00 and 2:00 a.m. on that the beach, where we were feeling winds of 75 miles per hour. that is just short of a hurricane. we've already had about an inch of rain, rainfall will continue throughout the day today into tuesday and -- tuesday and maybe parts of wednesday because the system is so huge. that being said, you can see if you saw some of the pictures yesterday, the surf is not necessarily as intense, we were seeing 8-# two, and it was up about 20 yards more than it is right now. take a look at the damage around town. we saw a lot of downed tree branches, a lot of the debris in the roadways, the roadways are very slick, and the mayor just held a press conference saying if people do not have to be on the roadway he doesn't want them to be on the roadway because we're still experiencing the heavy gust was wind, and this was a drought-stricken area and the trees are soaked with water and are very, very heavy.

however we do know it's memorial day weekend, people need to get home today, so there are a number of travelers who say 24e are -- they still trying to head out, the airport is open right now and two bridges are still closed but the majorities of roadways are closed. here's two travelers we spoke with. take a listen: >> start seeing the clouds roll in on sunday morning and spent time that we could out there on the beach, had a great time, then all of the sudden the winds started picking up and the rain started and i could hear it really, really hit about 2:00 this morning, i could hear the winds howling. >> we were driving. it was pretty wicked. pretty -- it was -- >> we were ready to get back home here. >> reporter: that was a mother and daughter from syracuse. this is their first tropical storm. we were hearing from folks who could have left, but said because it wasn't a hurricane they wanted to ride out the storm, that

being said, we expect major travel delays. gregg: elizabeth prann, live in jacksonville, thank you very much. julie: more extreme weather to tell you about, this time in kansas: >> wow. julie: you hear that, golf ball-sized hail, breaking windshields, damaging cars, part of a severe system pack 60-mile an hour winds and posing the threat of tornadoes in the heartland. tkpwra*eubg tkpwra eubg -- gregg: that will ruin your ferrari! firefighters battling a raging wildfire in new mexico's hela national for *s. they're getting breaks, though, i have to tell you, lighter winds allowing crews to build protection lines on key flanks of a monster fire there, threatening a privately owned ghost town. that's right, who knew.

firefighters preparing to send helicoptering into the air to drop water for the first time in several days. the fires burned more than one # \on/zero square miles since last week. a dozen homes destroyed. julie: a lot of ghost towns out there. in california as well, firefighters getting the upper hand on a wildfire in rural san diego county, crews saying the fire is about 90 percent contained and the wildfire is burning away from one town. no homes said to be threatened at this time. gregg: the crisis in syria going from bad to worse over the weekend. investigations underway right now after a blood bath from the opposition strong hold of hula. more than 100 civilians, men, will and dozens of children, massacred in the streets. washington is condemning the murders as the work of syrian government forces, but syria claims that many of the victims were killed by opposition fighters. >> i would like here to

condemn also on behalf of my government the tsunami of lies that were said a few minutes ago by some members of the council who tried to mislead you by saying that their way of leving accusations against my government is based on what they said evidence is. they are wrong, and they are misleading you. gregg: -- >> nearly 10,000 people have died. this is a brutal regime, of incredible proportions and by the way, if bashar assad fell, in the words of general maddas, the head of our central command t. would be the greatest blow to iran in the last 25 years because it would cut off hezbollah, syria's most important client state, et cetera, but look, horrible things are happening in syria. this administration has a

techless foreign policy which abandons american leadership. i know, because i visit with these people, that they are ready to help these people and they are already helping them some but it cries out for american leadership, american leadership is not there. greg gregg in terms of evidence, u.n. monitors arrived shortly thereafter. they found the government weapons responsible. the obama administration, looking for russia's help in ousting syrian president bashar assad, but moscow is now syria's last vocal supporter. so we're going to have a live report on that coming up in the next hour. julie: it is memorial day and president obama is set to pay tribute to the men and women who have defended

our nation this memorial day. the president and first lady will attend the traditional ceremony at arlington national cemetary today. the president will lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknowns. a little later he will visit the vietnam veterans memorial wall where he'll help mark 50 years of involvement since the beginning of the vietnam war. today's event begins a one three-year project to honor the veterans of that conflict, it will end on veterans day 2025, the 15th year since u.s. troops left what was then called saigon. gregg: o gregg: take a look the at vietnam conflict, it started 1962, it ended april 30th, 1975, the u.s. backed vietnam in an effort to keep the country from being overcome by communist forces in the north, more than 58,000 american troops were killed, as of the last count inducted in 2001, there are 1948 troops listed

as missing in action from that one three-year war. julie: it's so important because amid the barbecues and the mattress sales and the blowout sales, this is obviously a time to remember what memorial day is really about, the men and women in uniform who obviously make the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom every day and today in our nation's capitol, a special tribute in the memorial day trade. steve centanni is live in the beautiful national mall there. good to see you. what's today's tribute? tell us a little about it. >> reporter: today is the first official tribute, first commemoration of the iraq war veterans coming hope. as of december last year the president called an end to the combat operations in iraq, that war is over, the veterans have come home but they've not received the usual ticker tape parade, so this memorial in washington, d.c. is going to be the first official welcome home for the veterans, thousands will be marching which

starts on seventh and goes along constitution avenue, all the way up to near the white house on the lift south of the white house. you can see the preparations underway, barricades and fences being put up, red, white and blue banners flying in front of the national archives here. so this is the largest memorial day parade in the country and a special tribute today as i mentioned to the iraq war veterans. julie: we can see people walking behind you. so it looks like it's night weather. it looks a little sunny but is it hot and are there security concerns for the parade? >> reporter: weather has been a big issue here. as you know last night, a big memorial day concert on the mall had to be canceled midstream because of huge thunderstorms that hit the area but today, we don't expect the big thunderstorms, but it's very, very hot. we expect the temperature to be 90, 95 degrees down here on the parade route. so officials are advising anyone who does come down here and it could be tens of thousands of people, to wear a hat, bring plenty of

water, try to stay cool and be aware of that. as always, of course, security, very tight throughout washington, d.c. on any public event and on any national holiday. so that is a concern as well, as we don't see a lot of security in evidence now, but that's sometimes -- sometimes that's the point, you don't want to see it but it's there. back to you. julie: definitely make sure you have the bottles of water like you said because the lines to get into the metro, the underground system there, can be long and crazy. steve, thank you very much. gregg: steve is fair-skinned, i hope he's got his 120 sunscreen! julie: he's not fragile, though! this guy covers wars, he's -- >> gregg: he's a tough guy. you, on the other hand -- >> gregg: don't go there! let's talk politics. they say they both have what it takes to turn the ailing economy around. what will be the bigger issue in november, the president's track record or mitt romney's record in the

private sector? julie: also a virgin on the crisis for some americans, the staggering spike in disability claims for veterans. you will not believe the thumbs. gregg: and the catholic church, suing the administration over the mandate for employee contraception coverage. one of the nation was most powerful catholics lashes out: >> this whole lawsuit isn't about contraception. it's about religious freedom. embedded in the mandate is a raddicly new definition of what constitutes a religious community, what constitutes religious ministry. brand new, never before applied at the federal level. that's what we are arguing about. wake up!

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gregg: top adviser toss president obama and governor romney, sparring over what

will be a bigger issue for voters this year, the president's record on a still struggling u.s. economy on governor mitt romney's time as venture capitalist, investing in companies that occasionally failed. >> what bain capital never did was focus on job creation. that's not what bain capital does. it loads up companies with debt t. takes money out of those companies and pays those investorses. >> a legitimate concern that the president's hostile rhetoric to private investment and creators is highlighting the fact that his polices are hosil to private investors and creators. gregg: byron york is chief political correspondent for the washington examiner -- washington examiner and news contributor. thank you very much for being with us byron. i'm not all together sure that gibbs is correct. yes, bain made profits, any good business makes profits, or they go out of business, but look, along the way, bain created jobs. if you add, for example, staples, sports authority

and domino's, just those three, that's about 112,000 jobs and bain's failures were in truth pretty rare, weren't they? so are these attacks on romney and bain somewhat dishonest? >> well, they are. they are misleading at best. and they got bad reviews when they came out. obviously we saw democrats like corey booker, edwin ford, jr., ed rendell, distancing themselves from those and democrats depend a lot on campaign contributions from private equity firms like bain capital. so they got bad reviews but i will tell you, the obama campaign believes in this theme. they believe in this attack. they've got a lot of videos and ads ready to go about other instances in which bain investments went bad for some people involved, and they think it is eventually going to take hold. they think it's a fairness issue. they say that mitt romney operated on the kind of a heads i win, tails you lose basis, that is, bain

investment company, and it does well, well, bain makes a lot of company, bain investment company, does poorly, bain still made money and they're going to press that no matter what the reviews say. gregg: the president himself, not just his surrogates, have taken a ridicule in private equity, and you mentioned a couple of -- couple of charges, and the first is that he's waging this war against free markets which is antithet ical to capitalism, and the big supporters, private equity guys, many are sitting on his jobs council. >> well, if you talk to members of the romney campaign, they'll point to a third, which is, you know, barack obama as president has done a lot of investing himself. what if the president ran an investment firm and say the stimulus was his big project and what about all that money that went to solyndra, half a billion taxpayer dollars just down the drain

as an investment that didn't work, and 1000 people lost their jobs? even when a company survived, the president invested in, like the auto companies, they laid off thousands and thousands of workers, closed down hundreds of dealerships. gregg: right. >> so i think you're you're going to hear the romney campaign talk about president obama's record as an investor from the white house. gregg: in fact "the washington post"'s mark thesen wrote a column a couple of days ago arguing a sill point, that if romney's equip -- equity is fair game, so is the presidentness and let me quote, since taking office president obama has invested billions of taxpayer dollars in private businesses including as part of his stimulus spending bill many of those investments have turned out to be unmitigated disasters, leaving in their wake bankruptcies, layoffs, criminal investigations, taxpayers on the hook for billions. i mean, do you expect the romney campaign, in some of

his attack toss start making that point in a more effective way? because we haven't heard too much about that. >> yeah. i've heard about it for a few weeks now. i think they're getting that campaign together, essentially. i think the important thing to remember basically is that both sides here, romney and obama, believe in what they're doing right now. we're going to keep hearing this bain stuff from the obama campaign, and the romney campaign absolutely totally believes that the campaign will end up being about president obama's economic record. that is what reelection campaigns are about. that is the incumbent's record. and so i think in this campaign,ure going to see both sides keep pounding on exactly what they have planned for months. gregg: i wanted to get the exact number on the record, so i put our brain room on it this morning. the nation as a whole has 572,000 fewer jobs now than when mr. obama took office.

does he really want to get into a resume contest here? >> well, this is what mitt romney is going to press over and over and over again, obviously a high unemployment rate which is a lot higher when you remember and you count all the people who have quit looking for jobs. and the romney campaign -- and i think a lot of neutral political observers -- believe in the end, the election comes down to president obama's record in office. gregg: byron york, as always, good to see you, thank you very much. >> thank you gregg. julie: new developments in the search for a missing louisiana student, the 22-year-old last seen riding her bike home from a friend's house. what surveillance cameras captured before she went missing. gregg: and leon panet with tough words for iran. he says what the united states will do if iran develops a nuclear bomb.

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gregg welcome back. developing in "america's newsroom", the government says it wants to use new technology to drastically reduce the number of patdowns at airports. homeland security looking for tech companies to come up with less intrusive hand-held scanning devices. a solar plain is midway through its first intercontinental flight, that trip in switzerland to morocco, a rehearsal for the around the world flight planned in 2014. >> and justin bieber under investigation in los angeles after a photographer claimed the pop star roughed him up. police say the shutter bug was treated at a hospital. no response yet from. bieb camp! in other words, the pop star popped the photographer, as

i understand the story. julie: the lesson here, gregg, and the rest of the world, you don't -- he's got a cute little hairstyle, he's innocent but you don't mess with the bieb! gregg: should i tell you on commercial break about the bieb? not for broadcast. julie: it's fine, i'm okay with it. gregg: my youngest daughter adores the bieb. julie: cute little thing. let's move on to serious news. we are awaiting election results from egypt's first free presidential race since the fall of the mubarek regime, the unofficial count shows a tight race between the top two contenders, that could mean a runoff election between a former military commander and islamist leader. leland vitter is covering the election, he is streaming live from cairo. good to see you. this announcement is coming any minute. what do we expect to hear? >> >> reporter: exactly

juliet. the official presidential election commission in egypt as we understand it has just now denied the appeals of all the candidates who came in third and fourth in this race. they're expected in the next couple of minutes to announce that ahmed s h-fpl afik will be on the ballot for the presidential runoff race on june 16 and 17. he is the former pr-pt under president mubarek, the other guy is going to be the leader of the muslim brotherhood, muhammad morsi and this certainly comes as a surprise to many egyptians who thought that coming out of this runoff race would be some kind of secular liberal democratic candidate. that has certainly not happened. it's let a lot of people be very disappointed in what's going on here. going forward, we have that race june 16, 17 and whoever wins that is going to take over as president here in egypt, come july 1st. juliet. julie: leland, you just kind of touched on t so egyptians have a choice between a candidate who wants an

islamist state and a member of the old regime, so there were calls for democracy. what happened? >> >> reporter: exactly. i just talked to the guy, got done interviewing the father of the revolution if you will, the richest guy in egypt who financed much of the people in tahrir square, his revolution got behind it early and said the liberals skewed it up. there were 13 candidates in this race, and a number of the liberal secular party, to split the vote. in all, there were more than 50 percent of the people who voted against parties or against politicians who wanted an islamic state but they split everything and now this is the choice they have, so you have the muslim brotherhood crossing the parliament. julie: sounds like they deluded themselves. leland vitter, thank you for that report. gregg: another catholic leader weighing in on the church's battle with the white house and he says it's not really about birth control at all. a fair and balanced debate coming up next.

julie: holiday festivities were on the chopping block because of budget cuts but one community came together big time to save memorial day as we remember those who serve. >> what i saw in my camera was a good number of men being shot as they weighed through the water. it was always amazing to me

that these guys it said to keep on going. >> there were 70 triangles of death. the amount that we sustained , i looked at men and women doing something bigger than themselves. >> i had the lead. i had to be strong, for the guys that i was over there with. >> i think that people should understand that on an island that was one third the size of central park in new york, over 6000 people were killed, and seven -- in 76 hours. >> i have to breathe for the marines that have given everything.

jewel welcome back. thank you for watching today. religious freedom or women's rights? catholic institutions, suing the white house over the controversial health care mandate for contraception. and in an exclusive interview this weekend on

fox news sunday's washington -- fox news sunday, washington's archbishop donald cardinal rule explains what's at the center of the suit. >> this whole lawsuit isn't about contraception, it's about religious freedom, embedded in the mandate is a raddicly new definition of what constitutes a religious community. what constitutes religious ministry. brand new. never before applied at the federal level. that's what we are arguing about. the lawsuit says we have every right to serve in this community as we have served for decades and decades. the new definition says you're not really religious if you serve people other than your own and if you hire people other than your own. julie: all right. let's debate this, shall we? kirsten powers is a columnist for the daily

beast and fox news contributor, good to see you kirsten, and tkpwrefpel hammel is executive director of public notice, they both join us today, we appreciate it, on this memorial. you heard the sound bite from the cardinal, he says it's not about contraception, this is about religous freedom, you have others saying this is not a political issue at all. kirsten, weigh in on that. what do you think? >> i think that that is how the church sees it, definitely, that they do see this as a religious liberty issue. there's just this fundamental disagreement i think of what the government can tell people what to do, and the obama administration feels that they came up with this accommodation where if you work for religious institutions and you go into your doctor's office and you say i want contraception, that you get it for free, and so -- and from my perspective it's a church overreach to then say somehow that religious institution because you work for them can go into that doctor's office and say no you cannot get that for free. but i don't -- i just want to be clear that i think

they are acting in good faith. i don't think that this is some antiwoman, you know, campaign. i think that they really do feel that this is an infringement on their beliefs and probably more importantly, they see it as a slippery slope. they see other things happening to the church as such as with adoption agencies and such and i think they're afraid of what could come. julie: we'll talk about this axe to grind issue because there's another theory there as well but gretchen weigh in on this. what do you think, political issue, do you think the church is overreaching on this one? >> i think it's funny on memorial day where we're celebrating all the men and women who have fought for our freedoms and fallen for our freedoms that we're debating one of these freedoms that the nation was founded on, religious freedom and i find it highly eye ironic and it's not an overreach of the church. the church clearly explained as the archbishop explained yesterday that this accommodation doesn't accommodate, since so many of the archdioceses are

self-insured so therefore this accommodation, this half way measure that the administration had to swing back to to tell the catholic church, no, we're not telling you what to do doesn't meet the requirements to do so this is an infringement upon their freedoms they have, the religious freedoms they have, and i think there's a bigger issue here, is that we have a information continuously growing andtying people more and more what they should do and spend more and more, so we have this overall growing of government hinderance in this nation and it's up to all of us to push back on that to keep our freedom. julie: i wanted to ask you guys something. this is very curious. we were talking about this yesterday on fox tph-f friends, the big three networks, as they used to be called, abc, cbs, nbc, had devoted a total of 19 seconds of coverage to this and it was actually cbs, the other two didn't even bother covering it. what do you think is behind that, kirsten? >> you mean covering that the church is doing a

lawsuit? >> julie: covering the lawsuit. >> yeah, well, obviously, because of bias behind it because when it came to covering it from the perspective that there was this war on women being waged by the catholic church, which i don't subscribe to, i don't know what the numbers are but it was pretty startling how much time they spent on it, so it doesn't seem to be a lot of interest in even understanding where the church is coming from. and i do think the issue about self-insurance is an issue the administration said they were going to work on and if they can't solve that problem there's a major problem. if there are religious institution that is self-insure and they should not be forced in that situation to be providing coverage for contraception. but if they deal with that then i feel like it's a good accommodation. julie: gretchen the networks -- they say the networks missed boat. >> i think they did miss the boat but republicans haven't helped themselves. they had a serious misstep

to take this about something it's not. it's not about birth control, it's about overreach and telling religious organizations what they should think and on all days, we should respect our religious freedom. julie: thank you for joining us today, thank you. >> thank you. >> ♪ >> ♪ gregg a heartwarming show of patriotism, saving memorial day in one new york city suburb, all of the town's annual parades were actually on the chopping block because of budget cuts, but the community came together and where there's a will, there's a way. rick leventhal is live in new rochelle, new york, near westchester, and rick, the celebrations, they don't come cheap, do they? >> >> reporter: no,

parades and fire works have a price tag, 30-$70,000 or more, depending upon the size of thesy bration, much of it overtime pay for police and firefighters. when these cities and small towns are low on cash in a bad economy, they have to make tough choices, and new roceleee was one, considering chopping one of the big celebration, memorial day, fire works or the thanksgiving day parade. >> we raise our money through pr-t tax and sales taxes and fees and the economy has gone down so we've taken a large hit in taxes, the housing market has dropped significantly so our property tax revenue has been reduced and as a result , the staff and the city council made the determination, quite frankly, that our core services of police protection, fire protection, and public works services are what we have to protect. tpwrao*eug gregg it's very quiet now but the parade is a go, gregg. it will start an hour from now. there will be a barbecue on

the waterfront for the residents. the price tag is about $40,000 for today's events. tpwrao*eug gregg that is an amazing price tag. i had no idea it was that high. given that figure, are many communities now increasingly beginning to rely on local citizens, rick, to foot the bill? >> reporter: yeah, they have to. and citizens are in many cases stepping up. and here in new rochelle, the parade might not have been possible if not for the efforts of one peter parnte, a gulf war veteran and commander of the vfw post 39. he actually went door to door asking for private donations from citizens and local businesses, including a car dealership, raising thousands to make sure that new rochelle can honor those at home. >> i think memorial day is the most important day of our calendar year patriotic

ally. memorial day, without those that have laid down their lives and sacrificed for this country, this country would be nothing, our flag wouldn't fly and i think that's the most important day of the year for america. >> reporter: so thanks to the efforts of peter and others, the parade is a go, but july 4th is estimate in limbo. if they don't raise the cash for that the residents will have to watch fire works somewhere else. gregg: rick leventhal, thank you. julie: washington says syria's ruthless dictator must go after a massacre that left more than 100 men, will and children dead. but one of our supposed allies is the lone voice, standing behind the brutal regime. we'll talk about that. gregg: and she vanished more than a week ago, last seen leaving a friend's home on a bicycle. well today a crucial piece of evidence in the search for 22-year-old nicky shunik. welcome to hotels.com.

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gregg new information now on what could be a big break for police in louisiana. they are saying the bicycle belong to go nicky shunick has now been found under a bridge. the 22-year-old college student disappeared more than a week ago after leaving a friend's home on her bike. fox news contributor rod wheeler is a former d.c. homicide detective and joins us today. how important is this, what do they do with this piece of evidence? >> gregg, this piece of evidence, the bicycle that was found over the weekend, is very critical in the overall investigation. let me tell you why real quickly. the thing is, this bicycle, gregg, was found more than 25 miles from where mickey was lan seen. why is that critical? because we know, the police out there know, that mickey did not ride her bike 25 miles so it's a good chance she was abducted. that kind of not necessarily conforms it but leads in that direction. so what the police are doing today, and right now gregg, as i speak, they're actually doing a grid search of that

entire area which is like a swampy area, a lot of rivers flow through there, they're doing a grid search to try to find more evidence out there that could possibly identify where nicky could be now. gregg what about looking for registered sex offenders. >> excellent question gregg. they have already started looking at registered sex offenders in that area and as a matter of fact, alerted several police departments from what i understand in that entire state. the fbi is also involved, as well, and texas equisearch. they're going to identify people, they've already done that and try to identify where mickey may be. gregg: what about the video they're seems to depict a white pickup truck, is that important? >> very, very important piece of evidence. as a matter of fact i watched that actual videotape on the fox news website and that vid toe tape shows the white pickup truck, it has a cab in the back of it and that could be an indication, again, could be an indication, of somebody that could have

abducted mickey and maybe put her bike back there. we don't know but the police are desperately trying to find out whether or not this white pickup truck in the video is related. so that's why, gregg, they're really asking citizens to really come forward with any information that they may have that could help them find mickey. gregg: it's really going to come down to witnesses. somebody saw something. they must have. but what about what we know about mickey herself? described by her friends as an incredibly strong person, always very aware of her surroundings and carried mace for protection. so what does that tell us in all of this? >> i can tell you one thing that it tells us in law enforcement is that she was very much aware of her surroundings, she was an avid bike rider, horse trainer, a well-liked person in the community, police have interviewed all of her friends and it's really unusual for mickey to be missing according to all of her friends. i'm hoping gregg that maybe if somebody did try to abduct her, maybe she was able to fight that person off, maybe she's still out

there. i think we need to hold up hope, though, maybe she is alive and that's why, again, it's more important for people to come forward and assist the police if they can. gregg: there's the number to call there if you have any information. call the lafayette police department in louisiana: >> gregg: rod wheeler, thank you very much. >> thank you gregg. julie: holiday boat outing, could have been tragic. what rescuers say saved one family after rough waves slammed into the boat, splitting in two. we're going to tell you about this story coming up. gregg: america remembers and reflects on what memorial day is all about. here's a live look from arlington national cemetary. we salute our men and women in uniform. >> to lewis, out of kabul, afghanistan, i want to send a shoutout to my family and friends in houston, texas, want to let you guys know i love you, and i'll be home

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gregg all right, it wasn't supposed to be a drive-through lane, the driver of an suv drove over a median and crossed several lanes before slamming right through a bank of america. >> i'm all right! i think a problem with brakes. >> oh my gosh! i don't even know what to say! >> thank god somebody wasn't in there. >> it sounds to me like she might have had some kind of medical problem. >> i don't know how i passed

through store. i have no idea, i swear. gregg: the accident happened in florida. we can laugh about it because, yes, the bank was opened, luckily the person who works at that office that suffered all the damage was out sick that day, thank goodness, not even the driver was injured. do you have change for a 20? >> julie: a wounded warrior, this is an amazing story, giving back, a veteran hurt on the battlefield in afghanistan. she's back home and helping other service members and their family necessary a very unique way. he is our guest today and great to have you here, sir. >> good morning how are you? julie: wonderful, thank you. i love this story, luke's wings, tell us what it is and why you created it. >> first off, just to clarify, i've never actually been in battle. i'm just one of the citizens out there that understands that we need to be supporting our wounded warriors and all of those

who serve us so well. so that's why i do it. but to give you a little background about luke's wings, luke's wings is named after two people, luke shirley and sayre why winningfield and luke shirley was a wounded warrior we met in 2007 at walter reed army medical center, sarah was a cheer leader, ambassador, who met him and about six months later told me the story of how he was recovering from his battle injuries having lost an arm and leg in battle, and i just kind -- it kind of struck with chord with minister and a light bulb went off and these folks, these service members, these wounded warriors need to their families with them while recovering so very simply we started a nonprofit, a tax deductible 501c3 nonprofit in january 2008 and started flying families into military hospitals so fast forward, four years, 2012, this year alone, we've spent

about $118,000 flown over 240 family members in and out of eight different military hospitals around the country. we also fly our wounded warriors home for christmas, for -- there are days for birthday, for the births of their children. we pretty much try to make sure every single one of our wounded warriors has their family surrounding them throughout their entire recovery process and that's what we do. julie: tell me a little about how it works and how we can help. >> that's a great question, thank you very much. we take donations on our website, we work with corporate america, we try to develop relationships with companies all across america who are supportive of our veterans and wounded warriors. if folks want to help and by the way, fox, the audience here, are our biggest supporters, last december, they really came through for us, and helped us fly a lot of wounded warriors home for christmas so i've got to thank them for all of their support, all of your support. but come to the website,

today is memorial day, donate $5, donate $10, we're booking flights every single day. last night i was at dinner with two warriors from walter reed, we took them out to dinner, we're flying their families in and out and will be for several years to come so please donate and in terms of how it works, families just call us, call our office, or fill out the application on the website or they go through the case managers at the military hospitals, and we get them on airplanes. we get them out the same day. in one case, if i may, there was a wounded warrior out at fort carson, colorado and at 10:00 in the morning he found out his father was on his death bed and he talked to his case manager, the case manager talked to the red cross, red cross called us, we drove him to denver airport, we hale on a flight within an hour, and his father found out that his son was coming and waited to see his son and they had three hours together in boston, massachusetts in a hospital in boston, massachusetts, before his father passed away.

so we have a lot of the -- >> julie: thank goodness for luke's wings and for the folks watching this now and we'll do anything we can to possibly help you. the information will be on our website and anyone who wants to help out can find out how to get in touch with the website. thank you very much, fletcher, for joining us today, best of luck to you. great story. gregg: what a great organization. whatever you can do to help. speaking of which, honoring america's bravest men and women, a live look at the tomb of the unknown as we honor those who served this memorial day. ts, veggies and natural green tea energy... new v8 v-fusion plus energy. could've had a v8. yoo-hoo. hello. it's water from the drinking fountain at the mall. [ male announcer ] great tasting tap water can come from any faucet anywhere.

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julie: harsh new criticism for the president's foreign policy after comments from iran's nuclear chief that teheran has no plans to stop enriching uranium. i' gregg: plans are in the work now to build new nuclear plants, defense secretary leon panetta insisting that is not going to happen. >> neither the united states or the international community is going to allow iran to develop a nuclear weapon. we will do everything we can to prevent them from developing a weapon. we are prepared for any contingency in that part of the word. julie:ed henry joins us live

from the white house. iran isn't the only hot spot the president is dealing with at the moment. >> reporter: shraoer lee not you look at syria, for example. the slaughter continues. the latest incident, 32 kids killed as well. senator john mccain was on fox news sunday yesterday suggesting that the latest rumblings from the obama administration about maybe working with russia to come up with some sort of a pushing out president bashar al-assad that maybe there is a way for russia to negotiate that. some say that is not enough and the administration needs to do more. >> horrible things are happening in syria. this administration has a feckless foreign policy which abandons american leadership. i know because i visit with these people that they are ready to help these people, and they are already helping them some, but it cries out for american leadership, american leadership is not there. >> reporter: vice president joe biden over the weekend was

delivering the commencement a dress at west point defending the administration's policies with regard to iran. he says tough sanctions will prevent iran from getting nuclear weapons. as you suggest the movement and the iranians walking away from the table have raised alarm bells around the world about whether or not the sanctions are really working. julie: we'll talk to a four-star general about iran a little bit late. there is discord in relations between the u.s. and pakistan, correct? >> reporter: no doubt about it. president obama was trying to finish these negotiations to reopen those border crossings that had been shut down by the pakistanis, that is critical to the war in afghanistan to get those reopened. but meanwhile you also have the situation where this pakistani doctor, now facing this huge sentence because of his helping the u.s. crackdown osama bin laden, here is general dempsey earlier on fox & friends about that issue. >> incredible. i can't -- it's just -- i can't imagine what they did, it's probably some tribal court. i certainly hope there is a

appelete court that will deal witness and reverse it. >> reporter: so far there was been no suggestion that they will reverse it. pakistan, syria, iran, major hot spots that the president is dealing with all around the world as he gets ready to go to arlington cemetery to give remarks on memorial day. even as he winds down the war in afghanistan with some of these hot spots in iran there are major foreign policy issues for him. julie: whaoer is what we know about iran's nuclear program. the international atomic energy agency says iran has doubled its stock piled of medium enriched uranium since february. there are eight nuclear sights documented bayou nighted nations observers. some of the toughest u.s. sanction opbs iran affect banks and company has do which is with iran by freezing their overseas

assets. gregg: we are getting word from syria of a new round of deadly shelling by government forces. [sound of gunfire] gregg: these latest strikes targeting a residential neighborhood in the city of hama and it follows a deadly weekend with attacks across syria killing hundreds of people, including dozens of children. conor powell is live in skwrerlgz ar jerusalem. >> reporter: this has been one of the most violent periods in syria since the uprising 15 months ago. syrian forces attacking a town just outside of homs. according to other observers, they say more than a hundred people were killed in this town just outside of homs, including

32 children under the age of 10. also women and elderly men. now the bashar al-assad government said they had nothing to do with this attack, they blamed it on instead a gunman in the area but the u.n. security council quickly condemned the attacks yesterday, and they said there was clear evidence that it was in fact government troops. they said there was evidence of tanks and heavy armament that could only have been government troops. we are also hearing in the last 24 hours the violence has continued in other parts of the country. there is a new round of attacks on civilians and rebels in the town of hama, getting word now that 41, at least 41 civilians and rebels have been killed in that town in the last 24 hours or so. now the u.n. envoy, koff ii annann will meet today to kick start the peace process.

the violence continues. it has never really taken hold, it appears to be completely abandoned. the international community at this point is not doing anything other than condemning the violence and that appears to be the only thing that they are going to do right now. the international community right no is just -- does not have the stomach to take on military intervention in syria right now. gregg: conor powell live in jerusalem, thanks very much. julie: tropical storm beryl creating a holiday weekend wash out after making landfall last night. we'll take a live look ago the georgia coast where drenching rain and wind from the storm have left many of the beaches practically deserted on this memorial day. i can see why. meteorologist maria molina is live in the fox news weather center. marie a what is going on? >> reporter: good to see you, yeah, we're tracking a top box storm here, actually a little early in the season, it's not even officially the atlantic

hurricane season just yet. that starts on june 1st. a little early here and we are down to named storm number two of the certain with beryl being named for the letter b. we are talking about the storm weak evening here. it made land tphaul with sustained winds of 75 miles an hour near jacksonville florida. the center is 50 miles west of jacksonville. we had tornado warnings issued to the east of the city of jacksonville. that is not uncommon with tropical systems that we'd see brief spin downs of tornadoes in some of the outer rain brands. we have that in georgia and florida. it could produce some rotation and could produce tornado touchdowns. they should be previous but when the warnings get issued for your county you have to take them seriously and seek shelter immediately. tropical storm beryl has the same wind of 40 miles an hour. barely a tropical storm.

tropical storms start at 39 miles an hour. once it continues to weaken and drops below 39 miles per hour it will be a tropical depression. that is what we expect heading into late tonight and early tuesday mourn. we are expecting it no longer to be a top box storm just a depression with sustained winds of 39 miles per hour. beryl will turn to the north very slowly. it will continue to dump a lot of heavy rain over northern parts of florida, georgia, into southern portions of south carolina. we will talk a lot of rain out here. we do need the moisture but when you get locally up to a foot of rain you're talking about flooding concerns out here. aside from beryl we have stories across the country, showers and storms could produce severe weather across parts of the great lakes, interior northeast and the southern plains. please stay alert out here and take the warnings seriously. the other story is incredible heat from the northeast all the way down into texas.

we will be seeing highs into the 90s. hopefully everybody stays hydrated and wear some light-colored, loose fitting clothing if you're going to be outdoors for a long period of time. julie: a couple of bridges in the jacksonville area was closed. the airport was open, but with the tornadoes you never know what is going to happen from moment to moment. just make sure you call before you hit the road. gregg: welcome to the summer. julie: welcome to northern florida, they always get hit up there. gregg: that's right. gregg: troops in afghanistan pausing today in tribute to those who gave their lives fighting for america. we have some new videotape just in to our newsroom of a service in kabul. there america's top commander in rio de janeiro, general john allen spoke of the ultimate sacrifice made by so many in the military. >> while our brothers and sisters fell at a place far from

home, far from their families, the values for which they stood, and for which they lived, and for which they died occupy an enduring place in our hearts. gregg: general allen also laid a wreath at the base of a battlefield cross. it was made using a fallen soldier's boots, rifle, helmet and dog tags. julie: it gives me chills when i see that kind of thing. we are about an annual from the annual wreath-laying ceremony at the tomb of the unknowns at the arlington cemetery. we will take you their live at the top of the hour. gregg: the sobering look at the cost of war for our nation's veterans. disability claims for wounded vets at record-high rates with not a lot of help to be found. julie: newt gingrich stepping up to the plate for his former

rival, mitt romney. what he says will be the key to november's election, coming up next. >> he has the word unemployment record of any president since the great depression. the problem obama has is he has no model for effective creation as far as private capital. eat good fats. avoid bad. don't go over 2000... 1200 calories a day. carbs are bad. carbs are good. the story keeps changing. so i'm not listening... to anyone but myself. i know better nutrition when i see it: great grains. great grains cereal starts whole and stays whole. see the seam? more processed flakes look nothing like naturalrains. you can't argue with nutrition you can see. great grains. search great grains and see for yourself. for multi grain flakes tt are anxcellent source of fiber

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them vulture capitalists. newt has very much got even with the program. what i thought was especially fascinating was that newt gave actually a better defense of bain capital and how they are creating jobs and new industries like staples and home depot maybe. >> mitt romney has been a little bit two defensive what what he did at bain capital, not

explaining how he's providing the mother's milk of capitalism inch investigating the capital that the companies need to expand and grow their businesses and hire more workers. i thought newt might have been more effective in doing that, explain to the american people what private equity does and why this capital is so important for creating jobs and new businesses in america. juliet: steven moore, thank you very much. enjoy the less of the day. gregg: fighting for equality, hundreds of protestors are clashing with riot police. we are going to tell you what is at stake. juliet: an eye-opening look at the true cost of war and brand-new numbers on the physical and emotional toll for our men and women in uniform. >> we are exploring the site for wmd's. i was in a humvee, and a building exploded.

juliet: welcome back, it's 21 minutes past the hour. let's take a look at some of the headlines today. demonstrations turning violent in nepal's capitol. police firing teargas at protestors angry over plans to have faith-based ethnicity. an explosion rocks kenya this morning. the blast hurt 16 people, blew the roof off of a building. no word on what caused the explosion. five-time boxing jackson johnny tapia is dead. his career was plagued with drug addiction, run ins with the law. he was 45 years old. an autopsy will be performed within the next few days. gregg: on this memorial day a sober look at the true cost of war and the toll taken on some of our nation's newest veterans. now filing claims for disability

benefits at a historic rate. here are the facts. more claims are being filed by those who served in theee serves in the national guard, women are also serving at a higher rate and men and women alike are suffering injuries from ied attacks. now improved emergency care in the battlefield pushing the survival rate to more than 95%, and the increase in claims creating a huge backlog at the veteran's administration, and widespread frustration. >> you're running us around in circles and you should be ashamed of yourself. gregg: dr. david samati is a fox news medical a-teamer. thanks for being with us. 45% of the vets in iraq and afghanistan are seeking compensation, that is up 21% why? >> i think what we see over here is really we are seeing a totally different type of war. you see as you mention 95% of the soldiers actually survive. a lot of this has to do with the

technology we v. we have the body armors, better battlefield care so other soldiers can save them. as a result this is good news, they survive . you have to deal with the after care, the rehab. 19% of them are getting orthopedic surgeries. we have all these robotic arms and legs we have invest so the cost is houpbl. on the other hand maybe the economy has something to do with this also. when they come back to real life they have no jobs. a lot of the claims that you look at, as opposed to the gulf war, now we have 11 to 14 ailments in every claim. they are injured, they have no job, this is a serious problem we have to deal with. gregg: a lot of these veterans coming back here from the most recent war suffering post-traumatic stress disorder. in fact here is one of them, take a listen. >> before i used to get angry at every little thing. i used to be in the hospital bed and you would just turn on the light switch, i would just go off on you. >> we have a problem with mental health stigma in this country. we don't talk about it, we don't

look at it the same way we look at physical wounds. it's not something we are all aware of. gregg: do you think that is true? >> over 400,000 of them are being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress si syndrome. this disease is feel. they go straight from the airport to see their families and they go in there. the rate of suicide is high, they have nightmares and flashess from the battlefield. we need to deal with this. allison hickey a spokesperson says we will give them whatever they deserve. because the computerized systems are not up to date and there is a new mandate saying they have to go after the oldest claims they will have a tough time catching up with all the numbers of claims coming in. gregg: the computer systems are a bit out date, are they not? >> absolutely right. now, again there is over 500,000

claims that they have to catch up with. you know, this is a day that we need to really celebrate the victory of what they have done for the country and the kind of devoted soldiers that we have. gregg: here are some of the things that you pointed out to us, 177,000 have a hearing loss. 350,000tinnitus. >> yes that is basically ringing in the ear as a result of all the bombs. gregg: 200 need face transplants. 156 are blind. 400,000 being treated for the mental health problems. this is huge. >> it's incredible. and the kind of physical therapy and the rehab that they have to go through. look at that 90% orthopedic surgeries. we never used to years ago to have these kind of face transplants. medicine is improved. we are giving them these robot particular limbs that are unbelievable. it's going to improve their quality of life. that cost money. we have to make sure that they get what they have done for this country and what they deserve.

gregg: congress nodes to make sure there is enough money to provide for all of these heroic system. >> we need an absolute system for this to make sure they come back in good condition. gregg: thank you, doctor. >> good to see you, gregg. juliet: new developments in a 33-year-old murder case thought to be solved. a suspect may have confessed to killing 6-year-old etan patz, but that necessarily mean he'll go to jail for it. we'll explain. gregg: we are minutes away from the president's arrival for the wreath-laying ceremony honoring all those who have served. >> i'm name is safe sergeant eugene satisfactory ran no, i'm stationed in afghanistan. i'd like to say hello to my wife, desiree, my two kids, and my hometown on this memorial day. [ male announcer ] this is corporate caterers, miami, florida.

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gregg: new concerns now for prosecutors in the 1979 murder case of 6-year-old etan patz. police have a signed confession, but they may need something more than that, some corroborating evidence, or pedro hernandez could actually walk. here is what members of the community say about his arrest. >> the guy who admitted to doing it actually tried to turn himself in and back then the police didn't believe him. >> i think they definitely should have listened to him. >> i would have such rage i wouldn't know what to do with it. gregg: hernandez signed a confession, but now the f.b.i. and nypd are not all together sure if it's enough to put him behind bars. here now is a former prosecutor

and an attorney. confessions sometimes are not good enough by law, you have to some additional evidence that corroborates the evidence. new york is not one of those, but from a practical standpoint can you really go forward without it? >> no i agree with you, gregg you can't. in this particular instance they are saying that mr. hernandez has some inside information that only someone intimately familiar with the crime would have knowledge of. they are also, i guess tracing where he says it happened, and if the floor plan lace out. the lays out. they are looking for the remains where he claims to have had the body end up. you're right the circumstantial evidence just -- is it there right now, just his confession isn't usually enough to secure a prosecution and conviction. gregg: police are saying to reporters, well, this guy hernandez revealed information only the killer would know.

if the police had absolutely no information about the case to begin with, how would they know what the killer knew? >> well, it's very important to recognize that jose ramos who was found guilty, more specifically found liable under a wrongful death lawsuit in 2005, a judge was convinced enough to nail a $2 million judgment against him, the judge was convinced that jose ramos was the person responsible. the police officer who arrested jose ramos in new york for this was also and continues to be adamant that he believes that he was responsible. look, the bottom line on this is if this department did this crime it's absolutely heinous and he should be prosecuted. i want him to be prosecuted more than anybody else if he did it, butt evidence is very difficult in this case. you've got two people who have made statements that say that they are both responsible for this. and this other individual knew the family, was friends with the babier sitter an also confessed to it. it's a very difficult case. gregg: kelly, here is the deal,

all the time in high profile cases people walk into the police station and say, i did it, i did it, it's me. false confession -rs a dime a dozen. in this particular case hernandez, according to his lawyer has a long, diagnosed history of mental illness, everything from pie bolar depression to schizophrenia with hallucinations. you get a couple of docs up on the witness stand and say, this guy is nuttier than a fruitcake, how is the jury going to believe beyond a reasonable doubt that he did it? >> you are exactly right. on top of the fact that this is 33 years late. we have all of these issues of evidence is stale, witnesses memories change. this guy his nuttier than a fruitcake is up there saying it and maybe his story doesn't jive, so the story is going to say, if anything, he probably needs some psychiatric help, but i do know that they will be able to convict beyond a reasonable doubt. there is no body, there is no anything, just on his

confession. gregg: where it happened 33 years ago isn't even there any more. there is not, seth a scrap of physical evidence. at some point in time hernandez will get lawyered up. he will say in the absence of evidence you can recant and the prosecutors will be forced to drop the case, drop the charges. what do you think of that. >> there are no witnesses, no physical evidence. the district attorney's office was noticeably absent during the press conference this week. they just got burned a couple of months ago on the strauss-kahn prosecution that went south on them. there are sayings that there are serious problems with this case. all of our hearts go out to the etan patz family. this is absolutely tragic. we really hope that everything works out, but at the end of the day the prosecution has to recognize there are big hurd eld ihurdles in this case. gregg: the flip side of the recanting and walking, kelly,

the guy may be truly, truly guilty, he may be the real heinous killer and he may insist to his lawyer, i'm not going to recant, and i'm going to plead guilty, in which case i suppose with the judge's permission they can proceed by entering a guilty plea? >> absolutely. and the thing about it is, the only thing about this. you're right a lot of people come in and confess, but this guy has allegedly confessed repeatedly throughout the years, an wasn't taken seriously. so you have to wonder if it is his medical problems, but if this is really weighing on him because he was involved and he did do it and he feels he needs to come clean and be punished. gregg: then you've got the whole insanity defense, we'll leave that for another day. thanks so much for being with us. seth rozen barrens wag. juliet: tropical storm beryl packing a wallop, near hurricane

strength. it may be losing steam now but it doesn't mean the danger is over. we have the story from flagler beach in florida. >> reporter: most of the energy from tropical storm beryl pushed well to the north and inland now. we could see a few rain bands on florida's east coast. the waves are starting to kick up. that will be the issue for the rest of the memorial day weekend as we get into the rest of the week as well. those are lifeguards doing a little training in these rough conditions. four feet waves right now, a little choppy, a little rough for surfing out there. i talked to surfers out there this morning. a little too copy t choppy to be out there. they have had a lot of beach rest cushion in daytona beach, 150 over the weekend, the last couple of days. they are telling folks today to stay out of the water, it's going to be unsafe. the high tide here about 2:00 in

the next couple of hours here and most of the sand will be covered as the high tide reaches aupl the way up to the dunes and here at the sea wall. not good conditions to be out as most of this memorial day weekend has been a washout here with the tropical storm. juliet: oh, florida always gets hit hard. gregg: yeah. sad way to begin the summertime, isn't it. juliet: get it all over with in the beginning. gregg: there is a good idea. juliet: try to look at things optimistically. gregg: i'm a glass half empty, you're a glass half full kind of person, right? juliet: definitely. gregg: we don't match. juliet: we'll never be able to get married. gregg: since i'm married. juliet: that's a problem. gregg: defense officials prepare for any contingency when it comes to iran's nuclear ambitions. so just how far is too far. juliet: a four-star general will talk about that. a determined dog making a trek across after a continent. the story of her incredible journey and her unusual

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gregg: all right. a stray dog making a really unbelievable journey across china. she joined a team of long-distance cyclists. she ran alongside them, it all started when one psychis cyclist threw a bone to the pup. juliet: the dog ran all thousand miles? my dog is about that size and can't run a hundred feet without being picked up. gregg: didn't we have a picture of the dog in a little cage in the back of the bicycle?

juliet: see, i don't know about that. i'm a little cynical about that. gregg: it's like riding on top of an suv, same thing. juliet: i'm glass half empty right now. let's move on now. the united states is ready for war with iran, that is the word from defense secretary leon panetta. he also says it's a last resort plan. >> one of the things we do at the defense department is plan. and we have plans to be able to implement any contingency we have to in order to defend ourselves. juliet: general jack keane is the former vice chief of staff for the army and fox news military analyst. great to have you here. thank you for joining us. >> good to be here. juliet: you're talking about military action, what type of military action are we specifically talking about? >> well, you can rest assured we have a number of contingencies dealing with iran. if they shut down the strait

straits of hormuz, how would we deal with that. if the israelis attack iran and they ask us for assistance i can't imagine not assisting them. that is another contingency with the missiles that the iranians have. the most obvious is a military strike against their nuclear capability. we obviously have very detailed plans for that, and also we have plans, because this is a rogue regime, to actually take the regime down. that doesn't mean we are going to execute any of those, but we have those plans and they have been briefed certainly to the president of the united states, not just to the secretary of defense. juliet: iran is full of bluster and provocative talk, that is nothing new. do you think this is near the so-called red line that we hear about, the promise that iran isn't going to actually move into full-fledged weapons

production, enrichment? >> certainly they are getting very close to it. they've been pursuing this for over 20 years. its the regime's number one strategic objective is to obtain a nuclear weapon for the simple reason it guarantees the legacy of the regime, and that means they are willing to take all sorts of risks to get that weapon, short of losing the regime. that's why they are negotiations now as a ploy to delay the program -- not delay the program, delay the sanctions if they can get some concessions on it and they've done this on and off for the last ten years. juliet: yeah, i mean the secretary says he thinks we can achieve a quote, diplomatic solution. we are talking about an iran regime that consistently tphraupbts. it knows the rules and consistently breaks the rules and breaks agreements. >> well, i'm somewhat pessimistic about a diplomatic solution was that means the iranians would have to concede that they are not going to build

a nuclear weapon. they could have to give up their stockpile that they have of enriched uranium which has now reached 20%. they would have know not produce any more and inspectors would have to verify all of this on a continuous basis. i flat don't believe the iranians are going there. juliet: let's move onto something very, very important. i was talking on fox & friends about the meaning of the holidays here in this country. every holiday that we have seems to get lost in the commercial list eupl. you've got the christmas, and the christmas decorations come out at walmart, you know, in july. this particular day, as a four-star general i would imagine it irks you when you see the headlines in newspapers being these colorful ads for massive sales and big blowout sales at car dealerships, as opposed to really what the meaning is of this specific day, which is to honor those who have sacrificed their lives for our country. >> well, i don't begrudge americans for taking advantage

of a day off. they work hard for the money that they earn and surround themselves with family and surround, but you're right, in my judgment this is the most sacred of all national holidays, celebrating an honoring those people who have served, and in particularly those who have given up theirs lives in the service of this great nation. and it began in the 18th century fighting to establish the nation and we've continued it every century since right up now to the 21st century, protecting our nation, and it's people and its values. i think we can pay tribute to the 9/11 generation who has fought the longest war this country has ever fought, and i think they are the new greatest generation to be sure. never before have so few fought for so many and have done that for so long, and we not only honor their sacrifice but we honor the sacrifice of their families. and it gives us an opportunity on memorial day to renew our own commitment to america and its

values, and also to remind ourselves, as ugly as war i, and as devastating as the consequences are, there truly are some things that are worth fighting for. and these wonderful americans who step forward and have done that for us, we are truly blessed as a result of it. juliet: we are. and we will leave it at that. you couldn't say it any better. thank you, general for joining us today. we hope you have a wonderful day. >> take care. gregg: let's check in with jaime colby who is standing by for "happening now." >> reporter: i'm jaime colby. we will continue to honor america's fallen heroes. we will take you to the tomb of the unknowns at arlington where the president is about to take part in a very moving annual tribute at the top of the hour that you shouldn't miss. there was very strange behavior by the jurors in the john edwards trial last week. we will take a look at the bizarre turn in the case. what will happen when they are back tomorrow? if there is ever a day to ignore

your diet you have permission, go for it today, but we will have the skinny on some fat-finding foods you should put on your plate tomorrow. we'll be right back. gregg: i brought my lean cuisines today. i'm all set. >> reporter: take care, gregg. slim, slim jim. gregg: it is not your typical holiday weekend blockbuster but a film looking back on one of world war ii's bloodiest battles with serious star power behind this thing. we will take a took. juliet: san francisco marking a major milestone for the beautiful golden gate bridge. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement

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juliet: 8 minutes before the hour now. the beautiful city of san francisco put opening a big birthday party for the golden gate bridge, 75 years old, 75 years young today. the famously foggy waterfront cleared out in time for the massive fireworks show. can you imagine how beautiful that would be. capped off a day of celebrations marking the day the golden gate opened to drivers in 1937. gregg: yeah i was there. juliet: you probably were. about ten years old then. gregg: yeah. juliet: since then more than 2 billion cars have driven across that famous span. gregg: a new movie is premiering this memorial day and it takes viewers back to the very sight of one of world war iis bloodiest battle. many who fought the japanese on

an island never made it home. this documentary tries to recover the remains of those remaining missing in action. dan springer is live with more. >> reporter: each memorial day we take time to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. there is a world war ii vet named leon cooper who is going way above and beyond. he was a knave see ensign. more than a thousand americans lost their lives over those three days in 1943 giving it the name as you said the bloodiest battle in marine's history. over the years since the war that beach where so many died became covered in trash. cooper returned to lean i clean it up. >> i learned during that visit that the remains of possibly hundreds of americans still lay where they fell in unmarked graves on that island. that led to my question while i wondered at the time, after he left the island, are there other

islands like this. >> reporter: he tried to get the attention of washington making calls, writing letters, so no one would listen. he financed a documentary ultimately seen by the right people. a few years ago the pentagon launched a mission to the island to recover, identify and return. but cooper isn't done. he has made another documentary, this time about the recovery mission. the goal for he and the filmmaker to bring home the remains of every soldier unaccounted for. >> they all had a brother, an uncle, a sister, an aunt. they want these guys home. i mean it's really not about the guys that died, it's about the people that are living, that's what i found out on the movie. >> reporter: the new documentary called "until they are home" premieres tonight in los angeles. it is narcotic sraeuted by kelsey grammar and should be quite extraordinary. that to guy 93-year-old leon cooper what a hero he is. gregg:er sure is. dan springer live in seattle. juliet: gregg and i have been

keeping an active watchful eye on today's memorial day ceremony at arlington national cemetery. everybody is getting ready, people are out there right now. it looks like a hot but sun eye day. we will have a live look at president obama who is set to arrive here any moment now, lays down the traditional wreath at the tomb of the unknowns.

>> we thank you for being with us today, that's going to do it for us. julie: thank you for having me here today! gregg: it's been a great pleasure. have a very safe memorial day, everyone. julie: "happening now" starts right now! jon: we begin with this fox news alert, "happening now" on this memorial day, the president is set to honor those who have given their lives for our freedom. good morning, i'm jon scott. jamie: i'm jamie colby in for jenna lee. jon, i know our military means as much to you as it means to me, and moments from now, as jon was saying, president obama will participate in the wreath laying ceremony at arlington national cemetary. there's a live picture. it's the final resting place for those that made the ultimate sacrifice for all of us and this year marking the 50th year since th