veteran, daring passengers to get off the plane. i'm on vacation next week. i guarantee it will not happen on my plane. good to be with you. mart that is back and monday. we'll see you real soon. "happening now" starts right now. jon: a firestorm erupt as the house finds eric holder in contempt of congress, democrats walking out on the vote. the attorney general calling it pure politics. republicans say they want to get to the bottom of a border agent's murder. jenna: the political fallout from the healthcare ruling, the white house calls it a victori victory, but the victory is firing up the republican base. jon: a federal disaster declaration after colorado's most destructive fire ever, killing at least one person and destroying at least 340 homes.

firefighters in a desperate battle with flames that remain out of control. we are live on the fire lines, all "happening now." right now the historic contempt of congress vote against attorney general eric holder heading into uncharted territory. good friday morning to you. i'm jon scott. jenna: glad to have you with us, everybody, i'm jenna lee. it is an unprecedented move by the house. the latest fallout from the operation fast and furious. 17 democrats joined the republican-led majority yesterday to hold the attorney general to kwreupl contempt for refusing to hand over documents in that gun running program. many house democrats are accusing republicans of having purely political motives in all of this. more than one hundred democrats boycotted the vote and even walked out of the chamber in process as you're seeing on your screen, that is video from yesterday. a separate voice on civil contempt also passed the house,

sparking yet another legal showdown in all of this. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel is live on capitol hill. quite a sight to see all of those democrats walk out of the house of representatives yesterday. what now? >> you can get a sense from talking with house republicans and those close to the investigation, they feel like there is more work to be done. they are going to subpoena other people. as for what will happen with this -- these resolutions related to the attorney general, chairman darrell issa laid that out for our colleague, greta van susteren. >> it's very possible the president lynn strubgt the u.s. attorney not to prosecute further on the criminal side. the house has authorized me to hire staff and legal staff who then can pursue civilly in the courts to try to get a federal court to order separately this discovery. >> reporter: attorney general eric holder recognizes this will

likely end up in the courts. he called it an even necessary court action that will inch sue from awful this. he accused issa and the republicans of choosing politics over public safety. jenna: we have congressman issa there on the record for what is next. what about the democrats? what is their strategy next? >> reporter: you can see the frustration from the many of them walking out yesterday when they realized they did not have the votes to stop these contempt resolutions from going forward. you have to look at this through the political contest with an election coming up. they will accuse the republicans of over reach on this. that this was unnecessarily and that they were overly partisan. as for the frustration, take a listen to this. >> we did not want to participate in something that we believe has some kind of smell to it. and we are declaring by walking out that we are not participating in this kind of activity.

>> reporter: i did not ace my acts, you probably did eufpl think that is . but i think that is a new word. >> i certainly did not. it's a july 4th recess right now. did everyone do this vote and then left? >> reporter: they have to get through transportation today. it's a serious matter. we expect they will get through transportation. when you get close to a recess some legislative miracles can happen here on capitol hill. jenna: amazing, right. that means more vacations or better deadlines. i'm thinking maybe the deadlines might be the more effective time. thank you very much. jon: more political fallout now from the healthcare decision. the president's campaign team calls it a victory after the ruling yesterday. mr. ow obama called the solicitor general to congratulate him. republican house leaders are saying they will move to repeal

the law. >> the people clearly chose in 2008 and we are now as a nation living under the consequences of that political choice. but as a physic tell you that the doctors and the patients of this land are very troubled, because this law, just like yesterday it hasn't changed today, violates every single principle that we hold dear as a nation in healthcare, whether it's accessibility, or afford built or high quality care for choices for patients, this law violates awful those things and makes them more dficult, which is why each one of us has said in one way or another we will work together with our conference and with the american people to make certain that this law is repealed. jon: democrats call the ruling a validation of the obama administration's signature achievement. they say they are disappointed with the way republicans are acting. >> i think the republicans are over playing their hand. look, now they are saying that they are going to come back in a few weeks and repeal obamacare which is a totally empty

political gesturement we have a lot of big issues, jobs and the economy. that's what they did the first day in the new congress, obviously it went nowhere. the reality is is that they have no positive alternative. they said they wanted to repeal and replace. they haven't got a replacement. jon: the g.o.p. says this ruling will rally the base around governor mitt romney and his presidential campaign. just since yesterday's decision the campaign raked in more than $2 million in donations and counting. the supreme court threw 26 states challenge the law a bit of a bone. the ruling, those states can opt without of the expanded medicaid program without losing federal funds. what do the states do now? tmike tobin has a look eight. >> reporter: they intend to do nothing. they will not implement the aspects of the affordable care act. since there is no punitive measure there is nothing that

compels them to take action. instead these leaders say they want to turn their attention toward november and join the conservative battle cry to elect aa majority that will overturn the law. >> the american people don't want obamacare it's a political issue, and it's about whole presidential race, whether or not you want to implement it with all the additional costs and mandates witness or not. it's a political issue now. >> we'll look to the fall, fan there is a new president and new senate and part of a congress that is willing to change that, the next step is political. >> reporter: governor tom core about it of pennsylvania took an accepting approach after the ruling and said he would try to minimum ao mice the impact on his constituents. >> my administration will do what we can to insure that the negative impact of the law affects lives of pennsylvania citizens as little as possible. >> reporter: keep in mind this law is 2,000 pages deep, a law professor at the university of chicago tells us there are many aspects of this law, many

provisions in this law that will conflict with the interests of the states, and therefore we have not heard the last of the legal challenges. jon. jon: looks like lots of arguing, maybe some court battles still to come. mike tobin in chicago. thank you. jenna: fox news alert another very big story. more than 240 homes destroyed in a massive wildfire in colorado. one of seven wildfires burning. this particular fire, the waldo canyon fire is burning out of control, it's been burning out of control for almost a week now. it's right near colorado springs, and it is one of the most destructive fires in state history. one person is dead, more are missing. take a look at some of these satellite photos. rows of homes you can see where rows of homes once stood, all reduced to ash right now. others in the same neighborhood are managing only minimal containment at this point. the cause of the fire is unknown. the president is planning to

tour the damage today. he has declared a disaster in colorado, making federal aid available for areas ravaged in the string of fires burning across the state. in fact we have a map to show you where some of these fires are burning. we've been covering them for the last couple of weeks. you can see, jon, there, seven wild fires so far costing $50 million to fight. more than one in five colorado residents lives in one of these zones. it's affecting a wide part of the population in the state. jon: the big fire burning right now near colorado springs, the most destructive in the state, but the second most destructive is still burning, that is the hyde park fire you see up at the top in larimer county where i used to live. two back-to-back major fires have destroyed between them 700 homes and structures. jenna: and lives lost as well. we will be talking to the mayor of colorado springs coming up next hour about the impact to

his community. jon: they have their hands full. we wish them well. we'll get a weather update. jenna: one of the problems is the record-breaking heat. more extreme temperatures are on the way today. look at all that rerbgsd you don'red. you don't see that very often. we'll tell you the risks. jon: the ruling on healthcare is spawning interesting business opportunities, some surprising industries getting a piece of the pie. jenna: what do you want to know about the economy, about jobs, about gas prices? ben stein is in our hot seat today. send us your questions by logging in to foxnews.com/"happening now." you click on the america's asking tab and go ahead and send us your questions. you can also send us a tweet. my twitter name jenna fnc, go ahead and send your questions and we'll take those to ben stein next hour. be right back with more "happening now." are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years?

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jon: fox news alert. we've been talking about the big fires burning in colorado, but take a look at this. there you see pumper trucks working a fire in gilbert, arizona. south and east of phoenix proper, a little bit south of mesa. a large home there just went up in flames. authorities say that they met the homeowner, and the homeowner told them that everybody got out okay. no word yet on how it started. they've had some difficulty putting it out. it's an area where homes sit on large lots. the fire hydrants are few and far between, apparently and one of them may have gone out. no word on how this thing started. the good news, everybody got out okay. if we get more information on what may have caused this thing we'll let you know. jenna: right now back to washington d.c. where mike emanuel just told us there is one more vote that the house and senate are getting ready for today. after months of tense negotiations between democrats and republicans a transportation

bill is expected to pass both houses by midnight tonight, right before the official july 4th recess kicks in. this bill contains $109 billion for highways and bridges and transportation, wherever you live in the country you will be affected by this. every congressional district will get a piece of the pie here. it also extends low rates on student loans, a big issue, preventing them from doubling the interest rates from doubling this weekend. the bill is expected to save 3 million jobs and despite all the arguments about this bill, and certain issues were put in it, brought out of it, keystone is not in it right now, both parties are claiming it as a victory. we'll keep you updated on that. jon: and now this fox news weather alert. thermometers are hitting record highs across the country today, the sweltering temperatures already blamed for two deaths. take a look live at new york city, it is expected to hit the high 90s today. folks from the southwest through the mid-atlantic are looking at

triple digit temperatures. look at all the red on that map, as jenna said earlier. meteorologist janice dean has the latest from the fox weather center. and some of these temperatures, jd are dangerous. >> reporter: very dangerous. two dozen states are under some sort of heat advisory heading into the weekend. this could be killer heat, because with the humidity combined it's going to feel anywhere from 110 to 115 degrees. look at these records. that is not humidity involved, that is actual temperature. hill city, kansas, louisville kentucky, record for the month of june, that is 103. again with the humidity combined it's going to be unbearable. people should not be outdoors at owl. watch your little ones, check on the elderly and keep your pets inside as well. heat index, that's what it feels like if you're outdoors, which we don't need you to be. it will feel like 109 in raleigh and it will continue for the weekend. it will feel like 111 in

columbia. these, again are dangerous, dangerous temperatures, i can't stress enough you need to be indoors in the ac if you can. cooling centers, check them out. you really can't be outdoors for a great length of time, the body just can't handle it. haoeupbt today sees, 105 to 115 across the central plains. it's just incredible. we could see potential for severe weather today. we actually saw thunderstorms roll through the northeast earlier on today. across the central plains, the midwest, a severe thunderstorm warning west of chicago. that will bring those temperatures down a little bit which is good news. large hail, damaging winds and isolated tornadoes. we'll keep an eye on that. the heat, jon scott, man you need to be indoors if at all possible. back to you. jon: your husband is a firefighter, i know you have to feel for the firefighters who are working those big burns in colorado. >> reporter: you can't explain how you feel for those families

that are suffering, unbelievable. prayers, prayers, prayers. jon: janice dean, we'll send them, thanks. jenna: campaign opportunities, campaign fundraising opportunities in particular are rarely lost these days, even the healthcare ruling, about 24 hours old at this point sparking some new products out there. rick, what are we talking about. >> reporter: we'll show you. the republicans in the house of representatives were warned by the house leade leader no spike being the football if it was struck down. remember the f-bomb dropped by the vice president after the healthcare law had passed? listen. [bleep] >> reporter: instead of being embarrassed that that comment was picked up by the mike the obama re-election team is trying to cash in on it. take a look at the obama store section on the campaign's

website, and there it is. you can read it for yourself. alongside the picture it says, stand with president obama by reminding your friends and family that healthcare reform is still a bfd. euna sex fit, 100% cotton made in the usa. polls may show this law is very unpopular. team obama going for a niche audience with, i love obama bumper stickers. there are even pins, there can can only be a matter of time until the romney folks start selling gear that says, repeal and replace. jenna: the new r & r. i'm just putting some ideas out there. what were our lives like before that comment by joe biden? we have a whole new phrase for all of us. jon: that t-shirt is the real deal. it's not a mock up or a joke, they really are selling that. jenna: you might see it on the street in your town. rick, thank you very much for that. interesting developments there. always own angle.

jon: i guess that's capitalism. lots of new reaction to the supreme court's decision on healthcare, which as jenna said is about 25 hours old now. coming up the impact of that new law on small businesses. we will talk with the head of one business group, they filed the original lawsuit in the supreme court that ended up in the supreme court challenging the overhaul. jenna: what now for businesses, that is a big question coming up. another big ruling overshadowed by the healthcare ruling. the supreme court says it's okay for people to lie about their military service, and now there is lots of reaction to that decision. we're going to go deeper into that coming up in a few moments.

jenna: right now we are taking a look at the impact of the healthcare overhaul, and what will the impact actually have on small businesses. listen to what the president said during an address to a joint session of congress back in 2009. >> if your family earns less than $250,000 a year, a quarter million dollars a year, you will not see your taxes increased a single dime. i repeat, not one single dime. [applause] jenna: the affordable care act contains more than $400 billion in tax hikes over the next ten years. there are 20 new or in creased taxes on american families and small businesses, and 35% of those taxes are expected to impact families that are making under $250,000 a year. a lot of these just hypothetical at this time. some of them part of the policy, some we have to see how it is implemented. dan dan eris a ceo of

independent businesses, that first filed the lawsuit challenging the healthcare law. it was the challenge reject. there is a lot of talk about what does it mean for small businesses. your group represents 350,000 small businesses. what is the single biggest impact on small business necessary this country? >> i think the impact in the short term is that their cost of healthcare are going to continue to go up, and the new regulations and rules out of this are going to be a great burden for them, in terms of their ability to grow their businesses and hire people in the short term. jenna: let me ask you, how do you define a small business? >> well, most of our members are probably 20 employees or less. the sba definition of a small business goes up to 500 employees, but for us it's small, main street, entrepreneur, family-owned kinds of businesses, 10, 15, 20 employees.

jenna: according to the healthcare law if you have less than 50 employees you are not -- you don't have to follow the mandate. you don't have to go out and suddenly find insurance for your employees now. in fact if you do have more than 50 employees you get some tax credits to help you do that, you also according to what the government says on their website, there should be the state exchanges that will make it more affordable for you to do so. are some of those items helpful in helping employers, you know, provide for their employees or make them exempt if they don't have enough employees and are not part of that category? >> a couple of things. one, it's a great shame if you're 49 employees that you have a big disincentive to grow your business and hire more people. so if you're at 49 employees this is a way of telling you, you shouldn't grow your business. you shouldn't hire more people. we think that is a bad thing. and, frankly, the kinds of help that are listed on the government website for over 50 employees, in our opinion are

not very significant when you peel it back and most of that goes away and doesn'tso we don'h of a help, even for those who are over 50 employees. jenna: one ceo was quoted today saying, you know, although there is a lot of questions about this healthcare law, at least we've eliminated the uncertainty about whether or not it's going to stay or going to go. is there any benefit from knowing now that this law is in place and businesses can now plan accordingly? >> well, i don't think there is much benefit. i think there is a benefit in nothing there is a whole lot of bad stuff out there that is going to happen to you if you're a small business owner, concerned about healthcare. the bulk of this -- a lot of the big stuff doesn't hit until 2014. a massive new tax called the hip tax that is almost $90 billion over ten years targeted mostly towards small business, we don't know yet how these state

exchanges are going to work. we don't know what the minimum benefit package that's going to be required for those businesses to provide. so there is a tremendous amount of uncertainty still out there, and, frankly, most of it looks like it's not good. jenna: real quick final question. what is next for you and for your association? how are you helping guide employers as to what to do next? >> in the short term for us we'd like to see this repealed and start over with real healthcare reform that lowers cost, which is the number one concern of small business and move on. but, you know, until that hopefully happens we'll continue to educate our members and do everything we can to help them understand what their options are. jenna: certainly a lot to work through and that's what we are all doing at this time. dan. thank you for the time. we look forward to checking back in with you and following this process with you. thank you so much. >> thank you so much. jon: it has never happened

before, a contempt of congress vote against a cabinet member in this case attorney general eric holder. is it a political opportunity as some democrats claim, or could the move lead to answers in the fast and furious investigation? a fair & balanced debate coming up. also the supreme court weighed in once and for all on the healthcare law, now all eyes are on the political fallout. so how will the ruling impact the presidential race? we'll take a closer look. ♪ [ engine turns over ] [ male announcer ] we created the luxury crossover and kept turning the page, this is the next chapter for the rx and lexus. this is the pursuit of perfection. [ male announcer ] introducing new dentyne split to fit pack. it splits in to two smaller, sleeker packs that fit almost anywhere so you can take them everywhere. dentyne split to fit. practice safe breath. so what i'm saying is, people like options. so you can take them everywhere.

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jon: right now a new legal showdown underway after the nation's top law-enforcement law enforcement officer is held in contempt of congress. attorney general eric holder in an unprecedented position, becoming the first sitting member of the president's cabinet. this, after the obama administration and house republicans failed to reach a compromise over documents that house members want to see relating to operation astin. they both criminal and civil revolutions resolutions passed in the republican led house. more than 100 democrats boycotted the move. the attorney general says it is all steeped in partisan politics. >> today's vote is the domination of what became a misguided and politically motivated investigation during an election year. by advancing it over the past year and a half, congressman i said and others have focused on

politics over public safety. instead of trying to correct the problem that led to a series of flawed law enforcement operations, and instead of helping us find ways to better protect the law enforcement agents like agent brian terry, who keep us safe, they have led us to this unnecessary and unwarranted time. jon: fox news reporter julie and welcomed. this is all politically motivated, the attorney general says, why did the committee and the house gets 17 democrat votes in favor of this contempt citation? >> first and foremost, unlike the republicans who in 2007 and 2008, accused the democrats of doing this same thing. staged a walkout and are using the same talking points come the

democrats are using today -- there is vast hypocrisy on the republican side. these democrats obviously felt for political reasons, a lot of them felt compelled. they had no choice but to do this because they thought this is going to be a political issue for them. that is fine in their decision. what i want to focus on is a hypocrisy by the house caucus. i've been saying that there is no reason for executive privilege to be used against anybody in the present administration and all of a sudden now, the staging of a walkout and playing politics for months before an election. it is all about politics. sadly, we do have a dead agent and a policy that needs to be investigated. they are not interested in that. they are interested in essentially creating political problems for the president. jon: if the attorney general had handed over the documents the house is looking for, would we be having this discussion? >> that is correct. attorney general eric holder had every opportunity to comply with

the subpoena. the house limited the amount of documents they requested them and he responded and said he would hand over the documents if they agreed not to move over to the contempt vote. what happened when it was time for the documents to come up, he stonewalled and we handed over a few. house republicans had no choice but to hold this vote yesterday. i do think what is important is that the 17 house democrats voted with them. that is a bipartisanship vote. that is more of a bipartisan vote and obamare was. and it was gone through the house. jon: julie, it seems like if the attorney general really wanted to, you know, get this thing out in the open, why not release the documents? >> jon come in the same reason the bush demonstration did not do it, the same reason that the reagan administration didn't do it. same reason that the clinton administration did not hear. it is called executive privilege. quite frankly, holder's released more documents and then over backwards for chairman arafat and again, it was nothing that

holder could have done to prevent chairman darrell issa from going forward. he realizes that this is not because he wanted to bottom of anything come he wanted to make this a political issue in an election year. congratulations to him. the bottom line is there is something that -- people need to get to the bottom of this issue. not for political reasons, because it's the right thing to do. darrell issa is not interested in that. apparently. see one again, just seems like releasing the documents would be the answer to the question. >> i think the underlying issue is accountability. our government have played a role in that. today, to say this is a political issue -- if you look at the house democrats yesterday when they walked off the house floor, they walked straight to the camera spread they are trying to make this a political issue. they do not want to turn the documents over. someone is hiding something, and congress has role to look someone accountable for that.

>> quite honestly, did you have the same feelings in the bush administration when they used executive privilege when the u.s. attorney crisis is happening? did you say the same thing when reagan would not release things under executive privilege? it is easy to stay up and transcend up and say -- chairman transport as well as most of house members, not one of them said anything to the contrary when this is going on. jon: i will give you 10 seconds to respond, amos. >> if you look at what nancy pelosi said when they were holding the contempt vote, and to see her leave everyone off the house floor yesterday, it just screams partisan campaign politics. jon: we have to leave it there. amos and julie, thank you. reaction continues to pour in to this report ruling, upholding the president obama's health care overhaul. here is what mitch mcconnell had to say this one. he says that yesterday's decision gives us the clearest proof yet that this bill has to

go. what about the political implications? what will this ruling mean? the editorial page editor for "the wall street journal", paul, joins us live. a lot of people were surprised that this thing largely landed intact red what does it do? which side is a benefit come november? >> in the short-term it helps the president. how this law and overturned in total, it would've would have been a real blow to his reelection. his signature achievement is the health care health care bill. that would've suddenly been gone. a lot of his own party would've been demoralized and he would've looked ineffectual and that would've hurt us. the question he gets is about short-term benefits. what happens leading up to november. this has the potential to motivate republicans and give the opportunity to mitt romney in an electoral sense, to be able to make the case against this law and say the court has spoken. it is going to exist if the

president is going to be reelected. it is going to move ahead. the only way you can defeat the bill or repeal it is president -- beating president obama in november. that gives us the advantage to mitt romney if you can make the case. jon: fox news took a poll of americans in early june. they asked voters what their thoughts are in regards to the bill, whether this health care law was a good thing or not. asking whether the federal government should force americans to buy health insurance. 60% said it was a violation of individual rights. if that is how they feel, it seems like this decision yesterday by the supreme court is not going to make a lot of people happy. >> well, i think a lot of people will be unhappy with it. although i think that number, 60%, is likely to fall now that the supreme court has spoken. it is constitutional. the number to watch is the

number -- the percentage of the american public who is still opposing the law as a policy. that number has been 49%, upper 40s in the latest fox poll, 49%. that hasn't changed much, and that is far more 10 percentage points or more to say that they like the bill. we will have to see how that number -- those numbers change over time. as this debate unfolds and becomes central to the presidential campaign. obamacare has never been popular. and it is the only entitlement in history, at least one that i can recall, that has become less unpopular -- more popular as it unfolds. jon: paul, thank you so much. be sure to catch them this weekend at 2:00 p.m. eastern on the journal report on fox. jenna: news watch is right after that. stay tuned after that. the supreme court ruling was overshadowed yesterday by the health care decision. this is a case about a man, the man on your screen, who lied about serving as a marine and

received the medal of honor. what the justices said that has them in turn some real war heroes very angry [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare? that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses.

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jon: in all the coverage of the health care decision yesterday by the suprejor decision got lo. the justices announced that you can lie about your military service, it is free speech protected by the first amendment. here is the case they got the court to rule this way. victor alvarez was elected to local water board in california. he told folks he was a marine who received a medal of honor. the nations highest military medal for his service. none of it was true. he was prosecuted and sentenced under the stolen valor act signed into law by president george w. bush to try to keep people from tarnishing the value of real heroism by lying about their military service.

the justices ruled that alvarez claimed were contemptible or if they are protected by speech under the first amendment. let's talk about it with the chairman of the executive council of the congressional medal of honor foundation, also a former green and judge advocate general. leo is a retired air force general and a public servant. you have spent five years locked up in a vietnamese prison, you wouldn't would have been there if you hadn't been shot down trying to save one of your wingman. how are you feeling this morning? >> sick. it doesn't matter. i feel disappointed. jon: i'm sorry about that. >> in this case, we lost the battle with this case, but people like jay town, they are already rewriting the legislation to comply with the problems of the supreme court

and we will come up with legislation where senators and congressmen, who will support and introduces legislation -- i think it will pass. we will have new legislation and will so protect your. jon: leo, you fought for freedom. you fought for american freedom. the court says this is freedom of speech for a guy like alvarez -- he is free to life he wants to. even though it is contemptible. how would you respond to the court if you could? >> i would respond that is contemptible. people like alvarez -- they are lowlifes and detestable people. now they have the constitutional right to tell the states and lies. i think about kids and grandkids. if they get into this number is okay according to the constitution to lie and deceive people. you know, you keep ringing up my combat. i did fight in combat.

six years in prison, not once did i hear people say let's fight for life. we fight for truth. i grew up as a farm kid in our country wasn't built on lies. it was bit in turn built on truth and hard work and values. it is very disappointing. i believe in freedom of speech, we all do. but i think lying about having military awards -- an employer is going to hire you, there is an advantage claiming awards and decorations you don't have. jon: i don't have a chest full of ribbons, i never served, and my hat is off to you for everything you did. jay, they're only anyone living medal of honor recipients. they are national treasures. you are sitting next to one of them. for the supreme court to say it is okay, i mean, i could go out and say i am a medal of honor recipient and according to the court that is okay. >> yeah, i could be wearing the metal right now and it would not

be against any federal law. we are very disappointed. personal, it is important to note that the congressional medal of honor foundation is a proponent of free speech. however, false claims, false statements that are verifiably boss at the moment they are spoken, they offer -- they'll get constitutional protection. they should not get constitutional protection. they didn't until yesterday. they offer nothing in the marketplace of ideas. we are very disappointed that the court has ruled this way. the court has gone to great lengths in other decisions and historically, most notably yesterday in the affordable care act decision to avoid constitutional collision and figure out a way to make this law constitutional. we had hoped they would do the same thing with the stolen valor act. but simply understand that by lying about being in this case, the medal of honor recipient, that our prez did receive something of value.

it was the dissenting opinion that the government does have a legitimate interest in prescribing this type of speech. it is just that it could not find a majority of the justices. jon: i know that you hope to fix it and get a lot out of it that the supreme court can live with. jay and leo, thank you so much. we will be right back. why not make lunch more than just lunch? with two times the points on dining in restaurants, you may find yourself asking why not, a lot. chase sapphire preferred. see life in the best light. [music] transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it's meant to be seen. experience life well lit, ask for transitions adaptive lenses.

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jenna: in new book is looking at afghanistan. 2014 is the deadline of the withdrawal for combat troops. we have to remember wars happening right now. it is far from what the situation will be like after american and international forces lead. barnett does the current administration's honor kansas to help stabilize the country from opportunities that were there

good. when we talk about missed opportunities, the author of tran-sixes with us, what he said? >> over afghanistan war policy that really squandered a whole year of the war. this was a vicious and petty and personal thing, and it involved richard holbrook, who was part of the obama senior national security team at the white house. we were more concerned with fighting each other over very small and personal things as opposed to broader policy. what it meant was that we essentially wasted the first year of a promised troop surge. a moment of maximum leverage to pursue negotiations with the taliban and try to sort out car way members of the insurgency that have been fighting our troops and the afghan people. jenna: it is interesting to see the words tribal politics.

not about the afghan people, we are talking about our own government. what you are describing, does that cost lives? >> i think ultimately there was a cost in lives. look, the cost is that we have 90,000 troops here today. they are fighting incredibly hard, serving honorably, they deserve the best washington in supporting them. the other big problem was -- the first group of troops we sent largely to parts of the country that weren't as important as other places. i detailed this in the book. how they manage to go off to part of the country with very few people. those are the sorts of issues that need to be properly focused on by our leaders in washington. jenna: so we don't repeat the same mistakes again. we only have a minute, but based on what he saw and learned, is there any way to repair that? >> well, you know, i think we wasted our moment of maximum leverage. we are now drawing down troops, we see the endgame. it is heading towards 2014.

now it is a moment where we are trying to transition more to the afghans and having them lead the fight with americans and support. helping to do training and mentor in, but we had an opportunity in the early part of this administration where we were sending more troops, we were putting in more reconstruction money to really take advantage and went. it is not to fully win to get a better outcome, i think. to get something that would feel more satisfactory to the american people. more satisfactory to the men and women who serve their so honorably. jon: jenna: interesting view. again, the author of "little america." thank you so much. jon: the worst wildfire in colorado history. leaving hundreds of homes burned to the ground. at least one person is dead. we are live on the fire line near colorado springs.

where is it ? it's gone. we'll find it. any day can be an adventure. that's whye got a subaru. love wherer the road takes you. wow, there it is delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet the house is considering a bill to close thousands of offices, slash service and layoff over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains $5 billion a year from post office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts. house bill 2309 is not the answer.

>> reporter: rick folbaum in the "happening now" control room. brand-new stories we are working on you, including the very latest on a horrible, horrible crime. a six-year-old girl brutally murdered and assaulted and left in a canal in utah. are police closer to finding her killer? we'll let you know. a hundred young kids sent to a fun summer sports camp not having a whole loft fun. a lot of them getting very sick, some of them having to go to the hospital. the very latest on that. trouble for this texas woman who only wanted to help her fellow motorists about warning them about a speed trap ahead. how that got her locked um. the second hour of "happening now" starts right now. martha: history happening right before our eyes as a sitting member of the president's cabinet is held in contempt of congress. we are so glad you are with us, everybody, as we finish up this

week shall i'm jenna lee. bill: i'm jon scott. attorney general eric holder found in contempt over his refusal to hand over documents relating to the fast and furious gun-running scandal. 255-67 to hold the attorney general in criminal contempt. they held a second vote holding him in civil contempt. >> 258. the nays58,. bill: the attorney general is reacting to this. he blames politics. >> this is a misguided and politically motivated investigation during an election year. martha: the justice department's inspector general will issue a report some time in the next few weeks. for now here is some of what we do know, jon. bill: fast and furious launched in arizona in september, 2009.

two months later atf agents observed notorious gun runners buying weapons without stopping them. two months after that atf agent john dodson blew the whistle sparking an investigation by the judiciary committee. on september 14th of 2010 border patrol agent brian terry was shot and killed with a gun that was involved in the fast and furious operation. in may 2011 attorney general eric holder testified before the house judiciary committee that he first learned about the gun-walking scandal just several weeks earlier. in october 2011 some memos surfaced addressed to eric holder dated nearly a year before the time holder claims he found out about fast and furious. a month after that holder admits that gun walking was allowed to occur. jenna: today the house is gearing up for a court battle to compel the attorney general to hand overall the documents. we will continue to follow this develop story and bring you updates as they happen. in the meantime two information on the supreme court's landmark

healthcare ruling and what it means for the presidential race. in the last 24 hours alone governor mitt romney's raising more than $4 million, urging americans to vote for him if they want the law repealed. meantime the obama administration is calling this ruling a victory. wendell goler is live at the white house with more. >> reporter: the supreme court's ruling rile valu validates the president's legislative achievement. if it had gone the other way they could have said he wastedn. as republicans dwell on the ruling the obama campaign will accuse them of doing the same thing. the president is reminding voters there are elements of the air fordable care act that many people like. >> insurance companies can no longer impose life-time limits on the amount of care you receive. they can no longer discriminate against children with preexisting conditions. they can no longer drop your coverage if you get sick. they can no longer jack up your

premiums without reason. >> reporter: the folks here at the white house accused chief roberts of providing the swing vote. mitch mcconnell says the high court blew the president's cover and revealed healthcare law that most people don't really like and is paid for by a tax mr. obama promised not to impose. the white house said today it's not a tax, it's a penalty because it only hits people who can afford health insurance but refuse to buy it, an estimated 1% of the population. one analyst says winners celebrate and losers mobilize and that's what mitt romney is trying to do with the high court's decision. >> what the court did not do on its last day in session, i will do on my first day if elected president of the united states, and that is i will act to repeal obamacare.

>> reporter: as you point out romney raised more than $4.5 million after the ruling was announced yes. but he will need a white house and a filibuster-proof majority in the senate to carry out his promise. jenna. jenna: lots of things to watch in the months ahead. wendell, thank you. jon: in that supreme court opinion the supreme court ruled the individual mandate in the healthcare law is allowable only because it's a tax. so what does the decision mean for you, the taxpayer? the congressional budget offices mate the healthcare law will decrease the federal budget deficit by $143 billion over ten years. it's expected the cost of insurance coverage will go up by $788 billion. that amount would be offset by a $511 billion decrease in spending and a $420 billion increase in revenue over the same period. lots of billions in all of that. here to help us understand what

the ruling means for the overall federal deficit and your pocketbook, texas congressman jeb henserling. are taxes, congressman going up as a result of this healthcare ruling? >> well, they absolutely are. they already were to hundreds of billions of dollars, and now the supreme court in what appears to be somewhat tortured logic has said a fine is a tax, they are going up even further. we know number one the congressional budget office the has $800 billion of taxes. an average family of four is paying $2,200 more in insurance premiums. the bottom line is the affordable care act is not so affordable for taxpayers, for families and for our dwindling federal treasury, aside from its

constitutionality. jon: lost in all of the furor among conservatives because of chief justice robert's vote to align himself with the liberals and allow this law to stand is this quote in his opinion, wendell goler just touched on it. i want to read the entire thing for you. he writes, members of this court interpret the law. we possess neither the expertise nor the pa rog tiff to make policy judgments. those decisions are inch strutsed to our nation's elected leaders who can be thrown out of office if the people disagree with them. it is not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices. he seems to be saying, hey, if the president and the congress want to pass a law like this. far be it from us on the supreme court to decide whether it's a good idea or not. >> well the supreme court had their say yesterday. the house, the people's house

will have their say the second week of july. we will vote to repeal the president's healthcare plan in its entirety. jon: you've done that before. >> we are going to do it again. it's front and center, it's what the american people want. it's a threat to the healthcare system. it's a threat to our national treasury and a threat to job creation. and then finally, last but not least, the people, the people who are still sovereign will be heard on the first tuesday in november and i think they'll say, you know what, we don't want the 12,000 pages of regulations, we don't want the 159 boards, commissions, programs getting between us and our doctor, these are very personal decisions about our family's healthcare, and so, again, this is thrown back into the legislative and political arena, and we'll have it relitigated on election day. jon: the president says it's time to move on we can't fight the battles of the past. this is sort of old news, it is settled law, what do you say? >> well the national debt is

crushing this nation. he's had the worst economic and job growth record shins the great depression and one of the great impediments to both of those happens to be his healthcare. listen, the debt is constitutional, it doesn't mean it's a wise policy. just because his healthcare plan may be constitutional by a 5-4 decision of the supreme court does not mean it's good policy. it needs to be repealed because it hurts our healthcare, we can't afford it, it's hurting job growth. jon: you say repeal it and the house has scheduled that to do so. you already voted that way before as i noted. the senate is certainly a road block for is there -- >> there is something new here. finally we know the fine is a tax. a lot of theme come pained on the fact that they would never impose a tax on anybody making less than $250,000. according to the supreme court the policy does just that. the people that said they would never eupl most a tax on people

making less than $250,000 will have an opportunity to put their vote where their mouth is. jon: you may there may be embattled or retiring democrats in the senate who might vote against the law as it stands, might vote to repeal it? >> we'll see. they'll have to, again, make sure their vote comports with what they've said. they'll have an opportunity to do that soon. jon: calling it a tax could change the name of the game. congressman, thank you. jenna: the politics of it all, very important part of this story. also key, what is next for us with this healthcare ruling, right? chief national correspondent jim angle has more now. >> reporter: that's right. the supreme court decision as you were just talking about made it official the healthcare law is a tax increase, but many in congress already knew that. >> it is the largest tax in america's history. we also know that cbo has estimated that up to 20 million

americans will lose their employer health insurance. >> reporter: in fact the new law cost about a trillion dollars over the first ten years, four of which are before the law takes full effect beginning in 2014. the ten year cost of the bill is estimated by some to be $2.6 trillion and the administration argues it will not add to the deficit, meaning taxes of some kind will have to cover it. the administration has laid out more than 400 billion in increased taxes and 500 billion in cuts to medicare. but the chief actuary of medicare says this money cannot be spent elsewhere. listen. >> the claim was medicare is going to be cheaper miraculously so we have this money we can use to spend on a brand-new entitlement program. if the first part isn't true you've got to spend that money on medicare, you can't spend it a second time on the insurance entitlement. >> reporter: that could present a problem to the president to come up with other revenues, even though he pledged not to increase taxes on the middle class. >> if your family earns less

than $250,000 a year, a quarter million dollars a year, you will not see your taxes increased a single dime. [applause] >> i repeat. not one single time. [applause] >> reporter: many doubt that is possible. republicans, for instance point to congressional budget offices matter that 75% of the penalties in the new law would fall on those making less than $250,000 a year. 35% of the taxes to pay for the bill will fall on the middle class. analysts predict some taxes such as those on generous insurance plans like those enjoyed by labor unions may never go into effect. they've already been delayed, and that would mean that other taxes would have to be raised or the healthcare law would add huge new amounts to the deficit. jenna. jon: a mystery illness at notre dame attacks more than one hundred kids attending sports

camps. what doctors suspect is behind this illness. a city under siege, the worst fire in colorado history burning hundreds of homes -rpbg. at least one person is dead. we are live on the line in colorado springs to tell you how the residents are handling this. rick: ben stein is in the hot seat today. people have questions about the healthcare ruling, the supreme court. the economic situation as a whole. ben stein is a smart guy. he will answer your question. go to the home page at foxnews.com. send us your questions for ben stein and hear them answer them a little bit later on. we'll have more after a quick break. don't go away. when you have diabetes... your doctor will say get smart about your weight.

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jon: right now more than 100 students attending a summer sports camp at notre dame university are sick with a very knows a little more about it. >> reporter: this is really too bad, jon, all these young kids at a summer sports camp getting hit with this bug and it's probably something viral we are hearing. it was wednesday morning. the camp as you mentioned on the campus of notre dame, the kids sleep in the dorm there. sounds like a lot of fun. as the day was getting started kids began to complain that they didn't feel so well. a lot of kids, more than a hundred of them according to the university. and the symptoms, well they weren't pleasant. >> i just kind of woke up and i just started to have a sick feeling. the coaches brought us out into the hallway, and we -- and every single girl had a small trash can, everybody had a little pillow and blanket there and so we were all just kind of throwing up everywhere. >> i was kind of scared a little.

it was kind of weird. >> reporter: more than 30 of those kids ended up at the hospital. the health department there still trying to figure out exactly the cause here. their best guess as we mentioned is that it's a neuro virus that hits large numbers of people on cruise ships. the concern is that if it is a virus the kids as the camp ends will go home and spread the virus. 1100 kids returning home from all over the country. the results are due back to. if i learn anything more i'll pass it on. jon: time to bleach all the dorm rooms. >> reporter: good idea. jon: thanks. jenna: a raging wildfire in colorado springs is now the most destructive fire in state history. one person is dead, the body found in a burned home, and the fire has so far destroyed more than 345 different structures. the fierce flames of the waldo canyon fire are also causing

mass evacuations. take a listen. >> it's horrible, it's really bad, actually. i have everything in there, you know. i didn't have time to evacuate. >> i just feel like i could do more. i wish there was more i could do, you know. but it's just a helpless situation. >> you think that might be my house, you don't know. you want confirmation of what you're going to deal with. jenna: alicia acuna is in colorado springs today. >> reporter: the president will arrive in the city as it still is trying to fight this fire and searching for people who are missing. take a listen to this from this morning. >> on behalf of all of us at the county, our condolances to those not only obviously who have lost a family member in this. but who have loss so much, in terms of homes and everything that they are going through. it is our mission, our goal at the county to be available for absolutely anything that anyone

needs. >> reporter: fire and city officials are lifting more of the manned to*er reevacuations. they say if the fire marches back towards the homes they must be ready to leave on a moment's notice. they did not allow the lines to move and estimated the burned acreage down at 15 through acres if the weather cooperates they will have another productive day. president obama arrives today. he is going to free up money for the state badly in need because they are fighting multiple fires. seven overall. jenna: we will talking to the mayor of colorado springs who has an opportunity to speak to the president. he'll be joining us after a

quick break. we thank alicia for that report. jon: more on the murder of a 6-year-old girl in utah. she was sexually assaulted, her body found in a canal hours after her parents had discovered she disappeared from her home on tuesday. now police might have uncovered a clue that could hraoet the could lead them to her killer. this woman was kicked from the curb into a jail cell for holding this sign, warning drivers about police pulling people over for speeding, a speed trap on the road nearby. our legal panel takes this one on. should she have been arrested? that's coming up. >> he was telling me he was taking me to jail for a felony of obstructihat was an automatic three to five years.

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jenna: fox news alert. more on that horrific fire raging in colorado. the president is on his way to visits the area he will be talking with our next guess, steve bock who joins us live on the phone from colorado springs, the site of the waldo canyon fire. mr. mayor, when the president visits today what is the most important thing for him to know? >> we appreciate the president declaring a national disaster in colorado. that means we'll be eligible for federal assistance, which we definitely need. jenna: why do you need that now? >> we've got a lot of destruction. more than 15,000 acres have been burned in our national forest. in the northwest corner of our city we've lost 330 homes so far. we've got at least 32 more that are heavily damaged, and we are not through with this fire, eye still burning.

jenna: how is your home? >> pardon me? jenna: how is your home, is your home okay? >> well, i'm fine. my wife and i moved just not too long ago and we happened to move from where the fire actually is in the city, which is the four northwest corners, so we are very fortunate. jenna: where are all these people going, 30,000 evacuating, where are they able to stay? >> we've evacuated so far 32,000 people. that order is down to 22,000. there are a number of shelters, all our motels and hotels are full. people throughout the region are taking in friends, friends of friends and strangers. this community is coming together. this fire is in the far northwest corner of our city, most of our city is just fine, all of our attractions are open, and i hope folks will come here and enjoy the summer. jenna: it's a good reminder for us of course. how does the fire look today? >> it looks better. yesterday was our first good d day. it really was a firestorm of

epic proportions according to the u.s. forest service. it's about 15% contained, the winds have died down which is essential and we are going to get after it pretty good today. jenna: have you ever seen like this. mayor. >> no i haven't. i've lived here 45 years. we were all concerned about a mountain-drop drop wildfire. it happened in the national forest. very high heat and low humidity and high winds and rugged terrain. we are expressed with the eun in a tpaoeud command, the forest service, people a the state of colorado helping and the city and county working together. jenna: 45 years in that area and you sound like a great person for the president to speak with mr. mayor. nice to have you today. steve bock is the mayor of colorado springs, our hearts and prayers go out to all the people out there affected by the wildfires. we'll have more on this throughout the day on fox. jon: a shocking allegation of sexual assault shakes one branch of the armed forces, now it's

grabbing the attention of congress. what is behind dozens of claims coming from one air base in particular? plus, you know how the supreme court voted, here is how "the new york times" sees it, as a victory for obama. is it? we'll talk about that with our news watch panel coming up. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. [ male announcer ] introducing new dentyne split to fit pack. it splits in to two smaller, sleeker packs that fit almost anywhere so you can take them everywhere. dentyne split to fit. practice safe breath.

jenna: we have a greatly

aldebate for you now. she was just trying to help people save money. avoid points on their drivers licenses. what is the harm in that? her name is natalee plumber. she spent the entire night in jail for holding up this sign warning drivers that police were pulling people over for speeding. there was a speed trap ahead. police initially said she was obstructing justice. was she? let's ask trial attorney pilar prin. and former prosecutor joey jackson. joey i'll start with you with a disclosure. i once got in trouble for feeding someone else's meter. a meter maid got really angry. i was trying to help other people. how is that a crime? >> a crime of gross proportions, throw her away for life. no, listen. here is the point, the point we have to remember is speed kills and as a result of that the police have a very difficult job. what is that? to insure that the safety of the public is protected, that our families are protected, our

husbands, wives, children, grandparents, our parents. you don't need people out there impeding that activity. how is she impeding it? because she is out in public and in essence trying to warn people that, you know, and that further has the consequence of people being distracted and looking at her. as a result of that a police officer felt that it was inappropriate that she was there and removed her. jenna: pilar she is distracting, tpho* not helping people, she is not a police officer, so she shouldn't do that. what do you think. >> that is just wrong. they knew themselves they could not get this college student on obstruction of justice, they knew that would never stick. they couldn't arrest her legally. here didn't do anything wrong for carrying a sign. hrelts look at what they do. back up for a second. you have a young woman standing on the sidewalk with her bike next to her holding up a sign that is makeshift that she made from her grocery bag. she is well within her first amendment constitutional rights. show me under texas law where she did anything wrong. the police come up to her, grab her back bag, they search her

and her backpack but violates her rights against free speech and unreasonable search and seizure. jenna: joey, pilar is making an interesting point. she is actually not charged with obstructing justice. she was charged with something, and in fact we actually didn't see the charges go through, they weren't up when we were looking into this for walking on the roadway not on the sidewalk. >> a misdemeanor offense. jenna: here is the thing, in texas you're allowed if you're a driver and you see something on the road you can flash your headlights as someone -- oncoming traffic to warn people and sometimes people do that when they see a cop or speed trap, so how is this different? would it be better if she was in a car doing it? the fact this she wasn't driving, is that illegal. >> her time might have been better spent holding up pictures who died as a result of car crashes, maybe that would

educate the public. when a police officer approaches you about something that they believe to be inappropriate, inch proper and a violation of law, then an obstructing justice and impeding the administration of justice is indeed a violation of law just as if she were out on the sidewalk. and creating a public disturbance. jon: hold on a minute. they didn't charge her with obstruction of justice because they continue. isn't the alleged purpose of speed traps to encourage people to slow down and follow the law? this young college student was doing what the cops were doing for free. they should have thanked her not arrested her. >> she was having people avoid getting a ticket, i can respect and understand that, but there is a higher message here, the message is we don't only want to warn people on a speed trap we want to warn them in general. speeding, as a result of that people die. >> that is exactly what she was doing. let's just say that instead of the sign saying speed trap her sign just says, obey the law,

slow down, you'd have a different argument but it's exactly exactly the same thing. what she was doing is the same thing the police were doing, encouraging people to stay down. >> i think the speed trap sign was a device demonstrating that she was oohing to get other people distracted. by sreurt you've her being there i think it creates a disruption and distraction that is inappropriate. they already have a difficult job, it doesn't need to be made more difficult difficult by her being there. jenna: speed trap ahead.org. there are lots of those. joey if you get pulled over for speeding you want to know about it. >> or feeding the meter for somebody else. >> joey -- if joey gets pulled over for speeding in texas he'll wish he had this woman on the side of the road. >> i'm going to call you, pilar. jenna: thanks for the time

today. >> thank you. >> thank you. jon: "happening now," the man in the spotlight. chief justice john roberts. the mainstream media, by all appearances are gushing over the chief justice of the supreme court right now, this after roberts sided with the liberals on the bench in upholding the president's healthcare law confounding his supporters and encouraging his critics. let's talk about it with our fox news watch panel, judith miller the pulitzer prize prize winning investigative reporter. kirsten powers is a daily beast columnist. both are fox news contributors. they said they had all the news fit to print. they didn't have that much news because they spent a full banner headline. justices by 5-4 uphold healthcare law, roberts in majority, victory for obama. is it a victory for the president? >> i think that's what we're going to see in the months ahead, and i think it's an

extraordinary leap. it may be a legal victory for him, whether or not it's a political victory is something else. i noticed the financial times, not exactly a partisan newspaper since it's printed in britain noted that two hours after the decision romney had raised $1.5 million, so we'll see about -- jon: i think that total is up to 4-point something million-plus. is it a peric victory perhaps for the president? i mean 60% of americans according to our fox news poll think that the healthcare law is sort of government intrusion into their personal lives. >> yeah, well i agree with the new york times on this one. it was a victory for obama, there is no question. jon: not the kind he wanted. the supreme court clearly called it a tax the president said it's not a tax. >> the nuances and the explanations of what the decision actually said i don't think was covered very well. it definitely was a victory for the president. we don't know how it will play

out politically. this was his centerpiece legislation and it was upheld and that is a victory. what a lot of the mainstream media didn't get into is what you just said is it wasn't upheld on the grounds that obama was saying it should be upheld on and it was actually called a tax which he had said quite clearly it wasn't a tax. i don't think that aspect actually has been completely cleared out in media yet. jon: chief justice john roberts essentially says, hey, if the administration and the congress want to write stupid laws and enact them it's not our job as jurors to dissuade them. >> he was being very conservative and some say that he was being conservative, and it's the conservatives that are furious about the decision. they say he was being political,

th want the court to come down against the mandate. he didn't want to hand the president a political victory. i think that james toronto of the "wall street journal" had it kind of right when he said that roberts' reasoning is a betrayal of the conservatives. i think justice roberts did what he had to do to maintain the prestige of the court. jon: here is how some of the major media figures reported it kirsten, scott pelly called justice roberts the man of the hour. also on cbs, wyatt andrews said yes, he, meaning roerbtsz, was widely seen as another partisan on the court. today in the most dramatic case of his career he changes, he breaks the mold. and abc says, he gave heart instantly to many court watchers, because my joining the liberals, chief justice roberts seemed to have stopped the risk that the court would become just

another hyperpartisan place. a lot of the media just loved this guy all of a sudden. >> and nbc referred to him as being on the right side of history, which is not an exactly neutral position, even if i agree with the conclusion. i think that there was no question that he suddenly morphed from being this terrible conservative into this amazing wonderful statesman. jon: in the eyes of the media. >> in the eyes of the media. they weren't addressing what judy was talking about, which is why he did this. you know, and i think that that's an important question. is it okay for a justice to just rule a certain way to protect the prestige of the court, versus ruling the way he probably actually believes. that's what really should get more attention. they really weren't paying any attention to that. jon: it seems to me the media has to the done a good job explaining why this passed and the grounds. >> the legal media has. the blogs were filled with wonderful excerpts are justice

ginsberg beating up on justice roberts because of the complete about face that he has done on this case. i think we'll read a lot more about this in the days and weeks to come. jon: fascinating. thank you both. jenna: a quick check hopb wall street now. we'll take a look at the dow today, looking a lot better than it did yesterday up 200 points. a lot of this has to do with what looks like to be some sort of banking agreement. that's about as vague eights is right now coming out of the eu today. everything is up, gold, oil, stocks as well. ben stein is taking your questions on the economy coming up in just a moment here on "happening now."

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jenna: the new healthcare law will transform a big segment of our economy. how will it affect where we are

in our recovery? what does it mean for jobs and all of us when it comes to our money. ben stein economist and author "what would ben stein do" joins us now. we have a lot of great questions from our viewers. the big one that kayla is this. what do you think about the impact of this new healthcare law on the economy. >> i think it will have a negative effect in the short run because it will harm employers, it will place a new burden upon employers and that will make them even more reluctant to hire. the real problem in this economy is unemployment. this is going to tell employers every time you hire a new guy or gal you've got a new burden in terms of paying for their healthcare, and it there therefore discourage employment. i think it's a negative for the recover row. jenna: what about long term? >> long term looks so bleak at this point i hardly know what to say. we have so many problems in the long term i don't think this will be a big effect in the long term, but it is a moral imperative that in this country

people have healthcare even if they are not well to do. so that was morally imperative. the way they did it was an extremely cumbersome way and puts a burden on small business. i think it will be very questionable about whether it helps the recovery. jenna: i hate to laugh but when you say everything looks so bleak in the long term. how do we get up in the morning, we have our lives to live. >> you do. you know what our challenge is to keep the movement moving and the movement is to make a better life for ourselves and our family. our challenge is to keep the movement moving. jenna: keep it moving. that is a good message for us today. one of our viewers only going by a number 1240, i don't know what that means. he wants to know about the cheaper gas prices we are seeing right now. whether or not in the short term that will be something really positive for the economy. >> that will be very positive for consumers not good for investors in oil companies, it's very positive indeed for the consumers.

very high gasoline tax upon every motorist, and who uses oil to heat their house, it's a very positive. i love oil producers but it's better when the whole country pays less for oil. jenna: marr mary has another question. this has been a lot of debate whether thi this is america's move towards europe. is this making us more like european less like america. >> i think it's making us more like europe. i do not like the way mr. obama went around passing this bill, and nancy pelosi went around passing this bill. i wrote the message for mr. nixon in 1973 and 74 that proposed the first universal healthcare in america, that was from a republican, a compassionate republican, not a compassionate democrat. that was the first one from a president, and we thought that everyone in america should have access to healthcare, and i very

much still do. i think the way mr. obama did it, breaking all the eggs and trying to put the egg yolks back in the eggs was not the right way to do it. jenna: i have a question from shaun. where did all the money go, europe's money, our money, where is it? that's the question we'll have you address after the quick break. you're laughing already. quick commercial break, where did all this money go, the question from shaun today, ben will answer that in just a moment. and crowd cheering sfx: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering so, i'm walking down the street, sfx: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering just you know walking, sfx: sounds of marching bandnd and crowd cheering and i found myself in the middle of this paradeeet, sfx: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering honoring america's troops. sfx: sounds of marching bandnd and crowd cheering which is actually in tquite fitting becauseadeeet, sfx: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering geico has been serving e military for over 75 years. aawh no, look, i know this is about the troops and not about me. right, but i don't look like that. who can i write a letter to about this? geico. fifteen minutes could save you

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jenna: welcome back, everybody, ben stein, economist is with us taking your questions on the economy. before the break we got a question from shaun. he wants to know where did all the money go, europe's money, our money, everyone's money, wrist it, ben? >> it went to support a

lifestyle and a standard of living beyond what we could afford. basically the whole western world was borrowing to support a lifestyle we couldn't afford. now bills are coming due and we've got to pay them and we don't have the money, that is the problem. jenna: that's it, we are out of luck? >> well, no, no we will find a way around it, but i think it's going to be rough times for a while. i don't think our rough times are quite over. it's going to be austerity and belt-tightening for an awful lot of americans right now. an awful lot of americans are suffering. i'm 67 years old, i've never seen this much suffering in the post war era. jenna: we hope to have you back with us soon. >> thank you so much. jon: new information now on an alleged sexual assault scandal rocking the u.s. air force. 31 women from one texas air base coming forward to claim they were victimized by their own

instructors. national security correspondent jennifer griffin has more. >> reporter: an air force general confirmed to us that 31 women going through the air force' basic training program were sexually assaulted by their air force trainers between 2009 and 2011. nine of those trainers were from the same squadron, at 331 at lock lynn air force in and antonio, texas where airman go through an 8.5 week training course. the rest of the squadron is training, one person has been relieved of duty. >> no one is more angry and disappointed than they are, that a relatively small number of their quadry has cast a shadow over the program. >> reporter: the investigation has led to charges against six training instructors who had sexual relations with trainees. at least two of the instructors are charged with rape and sexual

assault. six additional instructioners are under investigation, and criminal investigation is now taking place at four different air force bases in two states. >> at the end of the day the best line of defense is for the training instructors in fact to police themselves, and that's what happened in this case. some training instructors over heard others who were talking about something that was clearly unacceptable, they came forward, we began to investigate, and that investigation led to other people that we found that were engaged in this activity. >> we need to know from top brass that the phrase zero tolerance for sexual assault in the military is a fact, not a walking point. >> reporter: congressman spire and others on capitol hill say the air force needs to do better, and in terms of the air force trainers policing themselves, the problem with that is that only 11% of those trainers are woman. jon.

jon: jennifer griffin at the pentagon for us. thank you. "happening now" will be right back. as a doctor, i do everything i can to make sure my patients get the very best care. but look at our health care system. everyone agreed we needed reforms -- but this new health care law -- it just isn't fixing things. president obama promised my patients that they could keep me -- but what if because of this new health care law -- i can't keep them? i've looked at this law. i know the consequences: delayed care and worse yet -- denied care.

studies show the president's health care law is projected to add hundreds of billions of dollars to our deficit -- and increase spending by more than a trillion dollars. and the truth is -- we still don't know how much this law will eventually cost. i don't want anything to come between my patients and me -- especially washington bureaucrats. we need real reform that improves care, and the president's health care law just isn't it. it just isn't worth it. this is where health care decisions should be this is a test yep. the longer you stay with us, the more you save. and when you switch from another company to us, we even reward you for the time you spent there. genius. yeah, genius. you guys must have your own loyalty program, right well, we have something. show her, tom. huh? you should see november! oh, yeah? giving you me. now that's progressive.

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jon: right now a discovery on a glacier in alaska could hold the key to a 60-year-old mystery. rick folbaum has that from our newsroom weather this is where it is unbelievable. sixty years later, they may have found a plane that went down in alaska. it was 1952. a globe master air force plane with 52 people on board. they ran into some problems from the pilot issued a distress call and had radioed that the plane had to land. authorities were never able to figure out where. debris has been found on a glacier, plane parts, equipment, possibly human remains. the alaska national guard made the discovery earlier this month and called it the joint pow accounting command, that is the group that specializes in recovering missing u.s. service members and bringing them home.