she said and she did. angelas that 25 grandchildren, 37 great grandchildren and everything came off perfectly in the end. we'll done. >> a lot you younger than 90 and say i wouldn't do it. good for her. she has guts. bill: catch you tomorrow, everybody. "happening now" starts right now. jenna: 91 days until the election and it is so on now. the president doubling down on what some are calling class warfare, calling governor romney's tax plan, quote, romneyhood. tyking from the poor giving to the rich. get it? is that a right strategy. gregg: a massive fire, one of the largest refineries in the country. hundreds seeking medical attention even though the fire is now out. jenna: really incredible there. plus cool new video from the surface of mars. the rover cures are tow tooling around on the red

planet. we'll tell you what it is finding. breaking news happening now. we start off with this fox news alert. all eyes on tucson, arizona. we're glad with you're us. i'm jenna lee. gregg: i'm gregg jarrett in for jon scott. we're hours away from a major hearing in the jared loughman murder trial. at his competency hearing the loughner was declared mentally unfit. prosecutors have moved forward where both sides reached a deal where loughner would plead guilty to avoid death. first a judge needs to decide if loughner is competent enough to agree to a deal that would put him behind bars for the rest of his life. alicia acuna outside the district courthouse in tucson with the latest. how do we expect things to unfold today? >> reporter: hi, gregg. jared loughner's court

appointed psychiatrist is expected to take the stand to testify that after more than a year of treatment in a mental facility, loughner is competent to enter a plea. now, if u.s. district judge larry burns agrees with that assessment, they move to a plea hearing which loughner will whenter a plea of guilty. doing this he avoids the federal death penalty and will receive life in prison. this is why the government would make a move like this. >> so often what you find is people say, well how many years will it be while they sit on death row, three meals a die, tax dollars involved? and then, sitting around waiting. is there a possibility this case could be reversed for some reason, technical reason, legal reason because of the insanity defense? was it used correctly? or the jury instructions correct? was there an error made by the judge? all of those things are gone. >> reporter: now a lot of this does depend on loughner's behavior today,

gregg. he could act out or even change his mind today. gregg. gregg: you know normally prosecutors will go to the survivors and the family members of those who lost their lives and consult with them, get their opinions on whether they would be willing to go along with a plea deal. what do we know happened here? >> reporter: well we do know that some are saying that they are okay with the deal and we are expecting a number of them to be inside the courtroom for the hearing today and we are hearing from commander mark kelly, he is the husband of former congresswoman gabby giffords who was severely injured in the shooting. in a statement to the associated press, kelly said, we don't speak for all of the victims and their families but gabby and i are satisfied with this plea agreement. the pain and loss caused by the events of january 8th, 2011 are incalcuable. avoiding a trial with allow us and we hope the whole southern arizona community to continue with our recovery and move forward with our lives. the hearing here in tucson,

gregg, gets underway in about three hours. back to you. gregg: we know you will be there. alicia acuna thanks very much. jenna. jenna: new details emerging about the suspected gunman in the seek testimony sikh massacre in milwaukee. he was a long time white supremacist who posted comments on forums for skinheads. i was a u.s. soldier demoted for drinking on the job and going awol. he is accused of killing six people and wounding three others sunday morning. one of those who was critically hurt was lieutenant brian murphy who is being called a hero. he was shot nine times outside the temple. when first-responders arrived he tried to wave them off insisting they grow to the worshippers inside who needed them more. hear is the emergency dispatch call just moments before murphy was shot. >> i'm taking report of an altercation, sikh temple. there is a lot of noise. i'm unable to get much info

but there's a fight. last i heard there's a balding man with glasses who may have gone inside with a gun. >> man with gun, in parking lot. white t-shirt. [gunfire] jenna: you can hear the gunshots in the background. rick leventhal is live in oak creek, wisconsin with more. rick, the latest? >> reporter: jenna, depending who you talk to wade michael page, the gunman, was a nice guy or creepy, seemed fine or played his hard metal music too loud and avoided eye contact. we know know owe lived alone in an upstairs duplex apartment with a chair, desk and inflated mattress, carrying his belongings in two black plastic trash bags. he was a one-time factory worker and truck driver who played guitar, base and sang in skinheads bands with names like end apathy and definite hate. he bought the .9 millimeter semitum tick handgun less than 10 days ago and used it

to wound six and kill three before a police officer ended his troubled life. his motive may be simple misguided hate and prejudice unfortunately. jenna: still remains a mystery when we ask those request questions about why, rick. the community is struggling with that question as well. how are community members responding right now? >> reporter: they held a number of candlelight vigils and prayer services across the milwaukee area last night, jenna. including one in a sikh temple in brookfield, 20 miles from here. governor scott walker was in attendance showing his support to the hundreds of members of the sikh community to paid their respects to the victims. the cofounder is here of the sikh coalition. >> i don't know how our country could show more solidarity with the sikh community than to have its own flag, our american flag fly at half-mast until august 10th. it is a tremendous show of

solidarity and affirmation of our values as a country. this hurts. it also help as lot our whole community and our country is behind us. >> reporter: singh said the turban an beard, represent honor, self-respect, courage and spiritualty, which are not qualities you would think inspire anyone to open fire inside a temple. jenna: what a statement by the community leaders. something for us all to reflect on today, rick as we continue to follow this story. thank you. >> reporter: sure. sure fox news, america's election headquarters. got mitt romney is taking the lead in the all-important money race last month with t national conventioneeks away. the republican presidential can diet and the gop announcing a fund-raising haul of just over one million dollars in the month of july, compared with 75 million for president obama and the democrats. that makes the third month in a row that governor romney has outperformed the president. what does this mean for the

race to the white house? shane april, campaign editor, elections and campaigns magazine. shane, good to see you. governor romney was struggling to raise money. he was vastly outspent over president obama. why is that reversed now? is romney more adept and organized over fund-raising? are people angry with the economy and president obama? what is it? >> i think there are a few things at work, gregg. it starts if you go back to 2008 and put your mind in the of the democratic donor these are folks who had tremendously high level of enthusiasm for then candidate obama, the message of his campaign. fast forward 3 1/2 years and 3 1/2 years of governing and where the economy is right now and unemployment rate of 8.3%, and simply said, the same level of enthusiasm to write that check whether it be for $50 or $500 is not necessarily going to be there. gregg: right.

>> i think that has a large, that play as pretty big part here. gregg: let me ask you about this. the romney campaign is taking out to calling president obama the fund-raiser-in-chief and you know there may be something to that. 199 fund-raisers this cycle. that is more on that the five previous presidents combined and yet, shane, from everything i read, the obama campaign has, you know, basically spent it all. they came they're in a cash bind. true? >> well we're going to see what the burn rate is going to be when we see the full july report released later this mon that will be a telling question. just how much the obama campaign is spending compared to how fast it is coming in. gregg: all right. >> that is always sort of the indicator of the overall financial health of the campaign. >> but the begging for money kind of knows no end or propriety. i want to tell you about this one. you know this one of the the recent e-mail pitch, the president wrote this to his potential donors. quote, my upcoming birthday

next week could be the last one i celebrate as president of the united states, but that's not up to me, it's up to you. shane in a separate fund-raising ploy he posted a blog, i wrote this down, as his gift to people out there, he will let them donate a portion of their birthday gift money to him. have you ever seen anything like this? >> you know i think when you're trying to raise money on line in small dollar amounts the more creative or more interesting, sometimes the better. those are interesting and creative appeals. i think that overall, when you look at the amount of money that the president's campaign has versus the amount of money that mitt romney campaign had, the key going forward is going to be how much the president has to spend on the airwaves to sort of level of the playing field here. he spent a tremendous amount so far. nothing compared to what mitt romney has spent.

mitt romney spent significantly less money advertising on television. gregg: yeah. >> yet still, that anti-obama message is loud f all the money from the outside groups. so i think that is what is taking the white house by surprise. gregg: i have to switch subjects to something we learned from the democratic national committee, obviously in charge of the convention in north carolina. they have just announced that jimmy carter, the former president, will be speaking in prime time no less. now, i mean, jimmy carter lost in a landslide for re-election for the very same reason that seems to be troubling the re-election of president obama. you know, jimmy carter i think is regarded a great many people as you know, not one of the better modern day presidents. what is the wisdom in having him address the convention? and the inevitable comparison and perhaps negatively, that will be drun to president obama? >> i'm not sure what the wisdom is there, gregg but i

guaranty you or i predict at least it will probably be a very short turnaround before we see a web video from the republican national committee or the romney campaign, sort of ridiculing this choice of former president carter speaking at the convention and making that comparison. gregg: by videotape. does that alter the equation? >> it ult ears -- all thers it a little bit. he has done that before at previous conventions. it is different than having the former president walk out on the stage and being a large center piece of the event. certainly those negative care sons will be very quick to come from the rnc and mitt romney. gregg: shane, editor of election campaigns magazine, always great to see you. >> thank you, gregg. jenna: ernesto is a name we all need to no. gregesg: y. jenna: a tropical storm in a few hours that could become a hurricane. so where it is headed and could it hit the united states? we'll check in with maria molina about that.

looks a little south but she will tell us all the news. gregg: as we mentioned gasoline prices on the rise. as governor romney announce as multi-state bus tour. we'll look how much it costs to fill 'er up in each of the battleground states the governor will be hitting the next couple weeks. jenna: that will interesting. speaking of gas prices this could affect them in one part of our country. one of the largest refiner is in the nation is up in flame. hundreds sick. the whole story next. >> i thought we got bombed. that's what i thought. >> i seen a big ol' mushroom cloud before it started spreading everywhere though. [ male announcer ] introducing zzzquil sleep-aid.

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jenna: fox news alert. want to take you out to texas now where we have new video of a helicopter going down in a cornfield there. this is in ellis county,

texas, 35 miles south of dallas. initial reports into our newsroom say no major injuries despite what this crash looks like. we're trying to confirm details. folks are staying by the helicopter. questions about what happened and what is to blame. there it is a helicopter crash in a cornfield in texas. we'll have more on this when we get it. gregg? gregg: governor mitt romney is announcing he is setting off on a bus tour of key battleground states. his main focus? issues that affect the middle class like of course the economy, this election's top issue and big part of that, gasoline prices. they affect absolutely every single american one way or another even if you don't own a car. let's take a look at the national picture. the average price for a gallon of regular just a bit more than $3.63. that is up 25 cents a gallon from just over a month ago. all right. so let's check out some of the average price per gallon

of gasoline in the battleground states that governor romney is going to be hitting. and for example, he is going to be going almost immediately on his bus tour to the state of virginia. let's take a look at the gasoline price. the average is below the national at $3.49 a gallon. but still quite high. he moves on to north carolina. $3.56 a gallon. then onto the state of florida where the average is $3.58. finally up to the state of ohio. $3.8 a gallon. that of course is above the national average but for all four of those states, those prices are very high just ask anybody who pulls up at the pump and tries to manage their finances each and every week or month. we're your election headquarters with 91 days to go. and we are all over the issues that matter the most to voters. jenna? jenna: gas prices certainly at the top of that list.

meantime out on the west coast, "happening now", folks trying to recover after a fire at one of country's largest oil refineries lights up the sky and causes serious health concerns for most nearby. rick folbaum from our breaking news desk. >> reporter: jenna, this is a big deal. the largest refinery in the country north of san francisco. locals hearing a big boom before seeing flames shoot up into the air. take a look at this guy. >> the flames were 100 or 200 feet high. big bloom plume of smoke. >> reporter: chevron owns the refinery not confirming the explosion. they say the fire has been contained. aftereffects are a problem. local hospitals reporting 200 patients coming into the emergency rooms complaining of some breathing problems. automated calls went out to people living in the area warning them to stay indoors. to close their windows and turn off the air conditioners. that order was lifted a

little bit before midnight last night. a hazmat team says even though the fire is still out there are things still smoldering at the site but the smoke is not leaving the refinery grounds of the as for production, we heard greg talk about gas price. analysts say that could have effect on the market is specially for gasoline on the west coast. a fire at this very same plant in 2007 led to chevron shutting that plant down for several months, jenna. if that happens again, analysts say gas prices will most definitely go up. back to you. jenna: especially in that market. you have to expect the unexpected. sometimes it is not so clear-cut what affects prices. something to definitely watch. >> reporter: good point. jenna: rick, thank you. gregg: mars in living color as never-before-seen images beam down from the red planet. curiosity rover giving us a first-hand look at the landing site. we're live with that story. not live in mars of course.

plus here on earth we're getting another amazing image after a volcano eresults without any warning. the fallout next.

jenna: right now we're keeping our eye on a developing story out of new zealand. a stroll cain know dormant for more than a century erupting now without any warning at all. rick, what do we know about this? >> reporter: the last time this volcano erupted, jenna, william mckinley was the president. it is a place where a lot of the "lord of the rings" movies were shot. now it left the surrounding area covered with ash about two inches thick. not too many people live in this area. now we know why. listen to this

volcanologist. >> the volcano gave us no warning whatsoever. the hydrothermal eruptions occurred could well be a sign. >> imagine waiting before taking off on aircraft and sound of engines at full speed, that's what we heard. gregg:. >> reporter: that last guy was someone who heard the noises. what a cool job that must be, huh? there could be more activity. they're just not sure. new zealand sitting on part of the pacific's ring of fires. there are who volcanoes clusteredded in the same general part of the country. officials at the general park nearby closed all the hiking trails on the mountain for the time-being considering, jenna there could be more activity, probably a smart idea. jenna: volume cannologist, got that in there twice. >> reporter: i've been practicing in my office. jenna: that's for sure. rick, thank you. gregg: not to be confused with dr. spock, spelled

differently. incredible images from mars. we'll see what it is like to land on the red planet. kelly wright has details from washington. what the is next phase for the mars rover, curiosity. >> reporter: good to see you, gregg. it is sitting inside on a crater in the planet mars and already hard at work on the next phase of its mission. curiosity is snapping pictures, getting videos and even tweeting about its mission on mars. one photo in black and white shows a mountain peak nasa calls mount sharp. the rover will also conduct scientific testing about the viability of life. >> curiosity, the most sophisticated rover ever built, is now on the surface of the red planet where it will seek to answer age-old questions about whether life ever existed there on mars, or if the planet can sustain life in the future. >> reporter: nasa plans to have curiosity conduct such tests for the next two years, gregg. so it's a pretty exciting thing for them. gregg: boy, fascinating

stuff but look, it's expensive, kelly. this project cost $2.5 billion. president obama proposing to cut nasa's budget by 300 million bucks. is this going to have an impact on nasa's future exploration of mars? >> reporter: yes it will. in some ways it already has. it will end two future mars partnership explorations with the european union. plus it raises questions about nasa's relevance since it scrapped or retired i should say its shuttle mission last year. so the successful landing that we've seen right now couldn't come at a better time for nasa and it's worth seeing it over and over again because it shows how nasa remarkably combined engineering and mathematics to create a picture-perfect landing on the red planet. >> if anybody has been harboring doubts about the status of u.s. leadership in space, well, there's a one ton automobile sized piece of american ingenuity -- [cheers and applause] that is, and it's sitting on

the surface of mars. report so you can see right there, gregg, it is very exciting for the people who really like going into the final frontier, that being space. while president obama is proposing those budget cuts of 300 million to nasa, he has set a goal for astronauts to orbit mars by the mid 2030s. won't that be exciting? gregg: it sure will. a you tribute to american genius and technology. >> reporter: it is. gregg: kelly, wright, thanks. jenna: want to take you out to mill know right now. mitt romney is the presumptive, of course, presidential candidate for republican party. he is speaking at acme industries, a big manufacturer in illinois. if you want to watch his comments today, you wan do so at foxnews.com. in the meantime brand new information on ernesto's track as the tropical storm

churns in the warm waters off the gulf of mexico. there it is. will it hit the united states? we're live in the fox weathe center with that. plus the president taking aim at mitt romney labeling the republican presidential's candidate's tax plans as quote, robin hood in reverse. how is this playing out with voters? we have a fairbalanced debate coming up. humans -- even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems.

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broadway theater. but the social media company hasn't been so quick to turn over the user's true identity. we're live with that story. also a road trip in a stolen car. you heard that story before. but you will be shocked by who the perps were this time around. education budgets are getting slashed in districts around the country but that is not stopping some school boards from adding days even weeks to the school calendar. is that a good idea for our kids? we'll talk about that next hour. gregg: fox news weather alert. parts of mexico's yucatan peninsula under hurricane warnings where forecasters say ernesto will hit tonight. it is still a tropical storm for now but it is gaining strength over the caribbean. jamaica's coast guard needed to rescue several fishermen as ernesto brushed part of the southern coastline the storm is passing over honduras where there are also hurricane warnings. that area not expected to get a direct hit though. mexico's yucatan peninsula

bracing for the worst. folks on the u.s. gulf coast also watching ernesto closely. meteorologist maria molina is live in the fox extreme weather center. >> hey, gregg. it looks like basically tropical storm ernesto could become a hurricane later on this afternoon into tonight before making landfall late tonight into the overnight hours across belize and and parts of the yucatan peninsula. it is starting to organize. pressure as dropped. by 11:00 a.m. the national hurricane center, more storms blowing up here earlier this morning. it is slowly starting to organize itself and hoping to become a hurricane later on today. we're expecting big impacts across belize and the yucatan peninsula. unfortunately up to a foot of rain locally in some spots. that will bring in a flash flood threat and mudslide threat. landfall is expected late tonight as the storm system moves over land. it will start to weaken.

60 mile-an-hour winds expected by early wednesday morning and reemerge over the bay of campeche thursday into friday and make landfall once again into mexico. we're not expecting a landfall across parts of the gulf coast of the u.s. we're expecting the storm system to continue tracking westward. eventually by this weekend just into a tropical depression. a lot of rain and strong winds are expected across mexico. otherwise in the u.s., hot temperatures once again across parts of the central plains. triple digits for kansas city and dallas, an area that really needs some rain and cooler temperatures. gregg? gregg: maria molina, thanks very much. we're getting videotape. new stuff of a killer lapped slide in the philippines. at least nine people are dead. emergency crews racing to rescue tens of thousands of survivors. this is around the capital of manila. folks there say they had no time to react before the mud destroyed their homes. frantic family members digging in hopes of finding missing relatives. of authorities are warning

ever more landslides in other parts of the country because of all the rain and flooding there. >> he would ask the middle class to pay more in taxes so he could give another $250,000 tax cut to people making more than $3 million a year. [booing] it is like robin hood in reverse. [laughter] it is "romney hood". [cheers and applause] jenna: that is the president with a new line of attack against governor romney on taxes, accusing the republican presidential candidate of robbing the poor to pay the rich. the president using a recent report by the tax policy center that concludes that governor romney's plan will raise taxes on the middle class. the romney campaign calls the analysis quote, flawed. what is the impact of all of this on voters? joining us for a fair and balanced debate. kate obenshain, former chair of the republican party in virginia.

simon rosenberg, form founder of ndn. former clinton campaign advisor. i know you're in connecticut. you were not at any high dollar fund-raisers last night. that is where with the president was speaking. >> i wish i was. i'm rooting on d.c. little league champions in their quest to get to williamsport and little league world series. my son is on the team. jenna: i want do ask you about that later. i want an exclusive with him when he becomes champion. kate, i to talk about this line from the president, "romney hood". you say it is ironic. why? >> i'm waiting for the great post partisan president who didn't believe in name-calling this is the continuation of most divisive presidency continuing class warfare rhetoric. i'm shocked he picked this robin hood or "romney hood" analogy because this president has presided over the highest poverty rate for women in 17 years. unemployment at record high.

the deficit. robbing future generations just seems to me rather a dangerous route for him to take. whereas romney has promised to lower taxes for all americans, basically unleashing those trillions of businesses are sitting on and providing certainty and opportunity for all americans and yet we've got this ridiculous name-calling. jenna: simon, surprisingly kate does not like the term. does not think it is effective. do you think this is a catchphrase that will win the presidency? >> i think it is another step in the story that barack obama is trying to tell to the american people about what the actual proposals from mitt romney are. he wants to cut taxes on wealthy people. he wants to increase defense spending, which means that if he wants to close the budget deficit, and analysis shows that his plan will increase the deaf sit by $2 trillion dollars he will have to cut dramatically in education, infrastructure, long term r&d the things

that create long term prosperity over time. i think the romney plan will not stand up to scrutiny. there is too much emphasis, raising taxes or lowering taxes on rich people and leaving everybody else with less. that is why democrats are feeling good about election chance this is fall. jenna: kate, how do they fight back here? the president says mitt romney's plan is "romney hood". out with a tax calculator, plug in your income, save your married or single and spit out whether or not you will see your taxes go up under a president romney. you don't really get a lot of insight to the formula they're using on the website. showing it on your screen. pretty easy to do and the results can cause some people to think. while the president was doing this fund-raiser yesterday, mitt romney was grocery shopping. we have some photographs of that, just sighing it is probably an attempt to look like a normal buy. is this the right strategy for mitt romney? >> look i think that mitt romney needs to come out hard today. he needs to be very clear that this is deceit.

that whole tax calculator, same sort of deceit we heard with obamacare when we were told it wasn't a tax increase. they argued in front of the supreme court it is. this is pure deceit. it is analysis that was developed by a former clinton administration employee and it sends completely erroneous message. whereas what democrats don't understand, romney has to convey, when you lower taxes revenue actually increases. that is what happened under the last three presidents that significantly decreased taxes particularly reagan. you see a boom in federal revenue because more people are more prosperous and therefore the tax base expands. you've got to find a clear way to articulate to the, that to the american people and say if you want to continue to record high food stamps, record high unemployment, record high deficits, then let's continue to threaten the income producers in this country with higher taxes. let's continue to stymie businesses and let's rip the american people apart,

turning them against each other with this class warfare rhetoric. jenna: simon, do you think there is a possibility again of this conversation about class warfare backfiring on the president? >> well, two things. first of all right now if the election were held today the president would win. he is up substantially in all the major -- >> certain polls. >> he is doing very well. i think he is feeling confident about his chances in the fall. so far it is clearly working. if you look at the analysis about the ads he has been running in battleground states it has done incredible damage to romney, the perception of mitt romney in these states. second thing, almost nothing kate has said on the show today is true. >> right. >> why the republicans, why one of the reasons why the republicans are in so much trouble. >> revenue boomed under reagan. >> you got to speak. i'm going to finish. jenna: i will speak. we have a commercial break coming up. but go ahead. >> we have what mitt romney is proposed to increase the deficit by trillions of dollars. so if the goal. >> that is ridiculous statement. >> if the goal is to reduce the deficit in order to

unleash the private sector, mitt's actually own proposals are going to dramatically increase the deficit. >> according to liberals who --. jenna: we have accomplished a lot today. we have a new -- simon. we have a new strategy. both sides are you calling each other deceitful. we never heard that before on this program or otherwise. there are no politics in baseball. we wish simon's son best of luck today. >> thanks so much. they need it. jenna: you're both invited back anytime. >> thanks so much, jenna, we're awaiting a court hearing very shortly where accused tucson shooter jared loughner is expected to change his plea to guilty if he is competent. but given his mental state can we expect a judge to accept it? we'll talk about it. the fbi investigating the mass killing at a sikh temple say it may be a act of domestic terrorism but the government doesn't consider the massacre at

fort hood a act of terrorism. why is that? are they right about that? a former federal prosecutor breaks it down for us. 0

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♪ gregg: right now we are hours away from a hearing, an important one, in the tucson mass murder case. jared loughner is accused of killing six people as they met with congresswoman gabby giffords in a shopping center last year. 13 others were shot including giffords who was seriously injured. many more were forced to run for their lives. now there are reports that prosecutors and loughner's attorneys have agreed to a plea deal. loughner would plead guilty and avoid the death penalty. the trial has been delayed before because loughner was ruled mentally unfit, not competent to stand trial. a judge will take another look at this issue. if he still thinks that loughner is incompetent, well, all bets are off on a plea deal. joining us doug burns, a former prosecutor, who has, you have handled hundreds of

guilty pleas in federal courts. you're a pro at this. >> thank you. gregg: what is at stake here on competency? >> yeah, it is interesting because it is two completely different principles so let's sort them out. today what happens is they go into court and under rule 11 under guilty pleas the judge has to be sure the department is competent to enter a plea. do you understand what is going on this morning? do you understand the nature of in this charging instrument. gregg: can you assist with your lawyers? have you interacted with your lawyers? have you satisfied withassistan? have you gone through the plea agreement? do you understand its terms? use a little algebra. if normal allocution is x, the judge will go over this very, very careful. the reason i say there are two issues, gregg, the question of whether or not he was competent at the time of the offense is waived, okay, by the entry of the guilty plea. the question of whether or not he could have assisted in the trial that now is not

going to take place is waived. the issue is, are you competent today to enter a noing and knowing and voluntary guilty plea to the charges. gregg: knowing and voluntary, same as miranda waiver. >> exactly. gregg: here's the problem. he has been force fed his meds. >> yes. gregg: the ninth circuit court of appeals upheld a ruling that said we'll force you to take psycho tropic drugs. >> yeah. gregg: i read the opinion. it is replete with all kinds of evidence what the drugs have done to him, the side-effects. they describe him as dangerously siz sew phrenic, dangerous cat tonic shell of himself with major depression. my goodness. that that is a great point. gregg: how could somebody like that be competent. >> something i forgot despite doing hundreds of please, have you taken any medications in the last 24 hos? have you drunk any alcohol in the last 24 hours. gregg: yes. >> if the answer is yes would that affect your

ability to understand what is going on. gregg: alters his thinking. >> the answer is interesting, and i've stood through many of these. yes, i have, your honor. i've taken pills, a, and b, and c the follow-up question of course is, does that after affect your ability to understand what is transpiring here in the courtroom? and the answer usually is no, your honor. i understand. but your point is very important. let's look at that ninth circuit opinion. break it down an analyze it and theoretically he could challenge entry of the plea. that's true. gregg: yeah, this is, going to be very, very tricky. i don't think it will be as easy as prosecutors may think it will be. want to switch now to the sikh shooting at the temple on sunday. >> yes. gregg: six people were killed. the gunman himself was killed by a police officer. the government is referring to this as domestic terrorism. i thought domestic terrorism is defined as two or more acts of violence designed to change the policy of the government by fear or intimidation. this didn't have anything to

do with the government. >> when you look at a statute obviously you look at the exact words and then you parse out what it means. so i took a look at the patriot act obviously. i believe section 2331, title 18, defining domestic terrorism virtually eye dentally as the way you did, gregg. interesting in law the word or versus and is huge. these are or. so it is affecting the policy of the government, but there is also or, intimidating the general population. now, i don't think, i don't think that the government would be very wise to commit to try to prove either one of those. gregg: yet in fort hood, the government refuses to call that terrorism when indeed clearly the motivation there was to affect -- >> i agree. virtually impossible to prove this was designed to affect or influence the policy of the united states government. but i think there was outside chance theoretically was to intimidate the

populace. gregg: a section of the populace, the seek community. >> that's right. gregg: doug burns, as always many thanks. >> my pleasure. gregg: jenna. jenna: big change for apple customers. it signals what could be a major battle between two huge tech giants. what it means for you next. hey, i love your cereal there -- it's got that sweet honey taste. but no way it's 80 calories, right? no way, right? lady, i just drive the truck. right, there's no way right, right? have a nice day. [ male announcer ] 80 delicious calories. fiber one.

jenna: the rift between two big tech names, apple and google, is heating up. apple released a test version of a new operating system and it cuts out a key google product. is this the first battle in the coming war if you will between apple and google? fox business network's lauren simonetti more on why the change is significant for all of us. lauren? >> reporter: jenna, if you love watching videos on youtube, on your iphone, you may be out of luck if you upgrade to the new iphone

this fall. that will run apple's new ios 6 operating system will no longer have the built in youtube app. first time since 2007, youtube is owned by google and the two tech giants were friends back then. take a listen to this. >> you can't really think about the internet of course without thinking about google. we've been working very closely with them to make this all happen. >> we just sort of merged the companies. we call them apple-goo? >> reporter: apple-goo no longer. the tech giants are more enemies than friends. apple's system is used in google's phones built by archenemy, samsung. our license to include the youtube app in ios has ended. customers can use youtube in the safari browser and google is working on a new youtube app to be in the app store. that might be really good thing for consumers. it means apple is passing on

the cost for that new app back to google and google can even updating their youtube app in the process. so it might be better in the end. jenna: a little tension between competitors could be good for customers. lauren, thank you. >> reporter: good to see you. gregg: speaking of tech, the nypd is taking twitter to court after somebody on the popular social networking site posted threats of a possible mass shooting but twitter wants to protect that person's identity. the latest on the mounting legal battle in a live report next. plus we're tracking a key primary race today, missouri and the important senate races you should be watching straight ahead.

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behind the threat. a live report straight ahead. the push for a longer school year, probably not what kids would like to hear about, but would it make them smarter? what about the cost for taxpayers? a fair & balanced debate coming up. superpacs, they've raised hundreds of millions of dollars for politicians from all stripes, you may not have heard about one called the joe six-pack superpac. we'll have more on the not so superpac later in the show. that and breaking news as the second hour of "happening now" starts right now. gregg: a battle for control of the u.s. senate is playing out right now in the state of missouri. i'm gregg jarrett in for jon scott. jenna: i'm jenna lee. today's republican primary in the show me state filled with political drama. the outcome could tip the balance of power. three republicans are fighting for the nomination. one is a wealthy businessman,

john br u.n. er who has led in the polls. todd aiken has strong support from conservative christians there. and sarah steelman could get support from the tea party thanks to sarah palin. democrats are in the majority with 51 seats in the senate, republicans have 47. 33 seats are up for grabs, 23 of them held by democrats. amy stoddard associate editor of "the hill." this is something to take a look at in these races, how one race can be so important to the overall results. tell us why this race in missouri is important. >> well, claire mckaskell a year ago was considered dead in the water. she's had a lot of political liabilities, issues that have made her unpopular in the state, and she is in a state where romney is running ahead of president obama, and president obama is not expected to win

missouri. claire mckaskell has a real race on her hands no matter who the voters pick in the primary today. i think most observers in missouri consider aiken probably her best opponent, the one that would make the race the most competitive. but if steelman or br u.n. er wins she is at this point expected to lose. jenna: if you do look at the polls and we don't dig deep into them on election day there's been a real divide between the three candidates. we also saw in texas that it was such a real tight race there for the primary for a republican representative in that senate race as well. larry sabato had this to say about the republicans this time around. he says the republicans problem is a common one in this antiestablishment era. he's saying candidate selection is not always so clear in these sorts of times. is that an issue for the

republicans? >> it is. as you know in 2010 sharon anngle lost to senate majority leader harry reid. he won by the widest margin in several cycles. christine o'donnell lost the senate race after knocking off mike castle the expecting winner and senator in waiting, a former governor in delaware. she won the primary and went onto lose. you see these insurgent candidacies in places like indiana, this cycle, where congressman joe donnelly bets if luger ran against this guy and a tea party-backed candidate like richard murdoch he would lose. and richard lu ger did. joe donnelly, a democrat really has a chance in that race. outsider candidates have threatened the republican prospects in the general election. you look at places where republicans are doing well.

dean heller in nevada, congressman jeff flake in arizona, and of force governor george allen in virginia. some of them might be backed by tea partiers, but they are insiders with experience and authors the candidates that are faring the best on the republican sides. jenna: you're saying some of the exercises in democracy early on in the primaries aren't necessarily providing the best results in the more general elections. as the republican party searches for a new identity, if you will, going into this new time in politics, do you think these conversations will payoff, that the republican party will emerge, maybe not with the strongest candidates all the time against the democrats but a stronger identity? >> i think when you talk to republicans in what is still considered the establishment wing of the party they are happy that the tea party is here and in a way has really redirected the party towards the issue of debt, and fiscal sanity. this is really a return to their conservative principles that the

party has been looking for. they want to get away from the over spending in the bush years and they want to return to fiscal conservatism. they are not happy with the cleansing that the party is doing, because often some of their candidates they think should win are losing, and some of these, as i said insurgent outsider candidates are not doing as well. right now you're really looking at a picture we didn't expect, which is that we have people in ohio, democrats in ohio, and florida, and other battlegrounds holding on and polling better than the republicans. this is a republican year. they have a real shot at taking the senate and a year ago that's not something they would have expected. jenna: interests times to watch. thank you so much for the time today. >> thanks. gregg: getting new details emerging on lieutenant brian murphy, thefficer who survived multiple sun shots at sikh temple in oak creek, wisconsin. lieutenant murphy was the very first responding officer. he was shot at close range,

ambushed really while helping a victim outside the temple. when other first responders arrived lieutenant murphy tried to wave them off insisting that worshippers inside the temple needed their help. he remains this hour in critical condition. there is another hero you may not have heard about, the 65-year-old temple president apparently tried to stop the gunman with just a butter knife. he tried to stab the shooter before he was shot twice near the head. police say the suspected gunman, wade michael page was a white supremacist who played in heavy metal bands and described himself as a skin head. while in the u.s. army he was reportedly demoted for drinking on the job and going awol. he was shot and killed at the scene. jenna: to this new case in new york city a standoff between new york city police and a social media giant that some say may have dangerous, even deadly consequences. the nypd plans to go to court to get twitter to id someone posing

tweeting threatening a batman-style shooting rampage at a broadway theater. so far twitter has refused to cough up the name. david lee miller is covering this story from our newsroom with more. david lee. >> reporter: these threats on twitter were first posted last friday targeting a broadway theater here in new york city where former heavy weight boxing champ mike tyson is now appearing in a one-man show, called "undisputed truth." one tweet siting the massacre at a batman movie in colorado says, and i coat, this ain't no joke, yo i'm serious people are going to die like aurora. gosh, i'm still making this hit list, dam i want to kill a lot of people. and in response to a post asking why there had not been a shooting a third tweet was sent out, this one saying and i quote again, i had last minute plans and i'm in florida right now but it will happen, i promise, i'm just finishing up my hit list.

new york city police beefed up security at the theater and immediately sent an emergency request to twitter asking for information that could be used to id the person behind the threats. twit eritwittwitter refused. they said, while we do invoke emergency disclosure procedures when it appears the threat is present, specific and immediate, this does not appear to fall under those strict parameters as per our policy. twitter declined a request from knocks news to further explain it's privacy policy and referred us to a statement on its website and said disclosures are made case-by-case in a good faith belief that there is an emergency involving death or serious physical injury. the n nypd is trying to subpoena twitter to give tporb forth the information as to who is behind the tweets. mike tyson said, i have faith in

the nypd. jenna: thank you. gregg: the crisis in sear yeah, we are hearing conflicting reports as to whether the rebels are staying to fight in the largest city of aleppo or pulling out to regroup. all as speculation mounts as to bashar al-assad staying intact. dominique d-natali is live in jerusalem with more. >> reporter: yes, it's interesting to see that president bashar al-assad has finally mid a public appearance. it was about time he did. everyone was wondering where he was especially after yesterday where there was speculation that he might have been killed or injured in an attack by rebels. he appeared on state tv walking on two legs and shaking the hands of the chief of the iranian supreme national security council sreutsing him ivisiting him in damascus. they say syria is the central part of the access of resistance, an interesting phrase since syria was once k-rz

the access of evil by the united states government. this was the resistance to international pressure for him to quit. coming very quickly after the prime minister of syria abandoned the bashar al-assad regime yesterday heading toward one of the strongest arab supporters of the rebellion. we are hearing about that prime minister, one of the reasons why he left, he was told on the day he took the job by bashar al-assad that if he didn't take the job he would be killed. and he planned his defection from that very moment. meanwhile fighting in aleppo continues today, activists say they've actually taken more s sways. they are taking two key central neighborhoods, including the area around a mosque which will be a psychological blow to the bashar al-assad regime if that area actually falls. it is the very heart, it is the

crucial center of the city. it will be very hard for syrian forces potentially to take that because the helicopter gun ships they have been using aren't designed to oust the rebels from that particular area. i was saying earlier on the israel regime would have to flatten aleppo to get rid of the rebels. jenna: an international man of mystery or just plain crazy. anyway police want to know who they are dealing w. the man on your screen they find he has all kinds of high-level government identification. why, who is he? what is the deal here? we'll talk more about that. gregg: what press has to sa president obama has to say about the working class and how it stacks up against the facts. one second, buddy. daddy'll be right back.

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gregg: right now police are trying to figure out who this guy really is. take a look at this. he goes by the name of roy antigua. he came to the attention of police during a traffic stop in florida where he showed phony id to the u.s. coast card. coast guard. they found uniforms from the c.i.a., the f.b.i., homeland security, all those of things. they traoeurg to figure ou trying to figure out if he's a threat or has and overall fantasy life. jenna called him an international man of mystery. he looks nothing like austin powers. jenna: kind of an interesting guy, though. we'd like an interview with him if he ever emerges. the president has made it no secret that he's considering raising taxes on wealth year taxpayers, that is one of the topics he's been talking a lot b. the president has been

arguing everyone needs to pay their fair share and the middle class is over burdened when it comes to taxes. jim angle reports that the administration's facts can be called into question. you want to tell bus that. >> reporter: vice president biden says flatly that the middle class is, quote, getting screwed. the president is a little more diplomatic, puts it differently. both statements are contrary to recent reports from the congressional budget office, listen. >> the r u.n rungs on the ladder of opportunity have grown farther and farther a part. the middle class has shrink. >> since 1979 the average income of the household in the middle fifth has increased by a third. for the bottom fifth it's actually increased by over 40%. >> reporter: the president seems to believe the poor are hurt by the wealthy but that isn't clear

either. for instance take facebook founder mark zuckerberg who made a billion dollars or more when facebook went public, did his gain somehow hurt those who make less? >> i don't think there is a lot of evidence that that is the case. it's unclear that anyone is made worse off because of that. >> reporter: one other thing is clear, though, and that is that current tax policy does what it can to reduce income inequality. the latest report from the congressional budget office for instance shows that of the total income taxes collected the bottom 20% in income pay only .3% of total taxes. the middle 20% pay 9.4%. the top 20% say 67.9% of total income taxes collected. analysts also say income distribution isn't like geological strat, improvable, but rather like an escalator

with people going up and down in time. as people advance or get experience their income grows. 60% of people who start in the bottom fifth move up within ten years. now there will always be inequality in incomes, jenna. the key question is whether there is mobility, meaning equality of opportunity, and it appears there is. jenna. jenna: interesting. jim, thank you. >> reporter: yes, ma'am. gregg: all right. fascinating stats. in the meantime, road trip with a stolen car? but it's who was caught behind the wheel that is most surprising of all. plus, we could see a big chapter close in the most horrific mass shooting of recent memory, tucson shooter jerod laughner expected to change his plea to guilty today. here is the big question, will the judge sign off on what doctors are now saying about his mental state after being

force-fed his meds? our legal panel takes up that case. [ male announcer ] this is rudy.

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gregg: "happening now" now today could cap what would be a stunning turn of events in the mass shootings in tucson, arizona, killing six people, seriously wounding then congresswoman gabrielle giffords. accused mass murderer jerod laughner expected to plead guilty inside a federal courtroom a couple of hours from now, but there is a big if here, it's up to the judge to accept the plea, the same judge that found him incompetent to stand trial last year. lis wiehl fox news analyst and brian russell, an attorney join us. lis you have to be competent to even change a plea. a guy who is being force fed his

meds, psychotropic drugs that have according to the ninth circuit turned him from a crazed deranged delusional guy to a shell of himself with major depression, can you be competent like that? >> yes you can. it's a very low standard. all you need to do to be deemed competent is understand the charges leveled against you and be able to assist your attorneys. he is trying to assist his attorneys to have a guilty plea to take the death penalty off the table. that's what they are trying to do. >> brian, what if the medication and the sedation affects his mental process? i'm not just inventing this. it was actually a very well reasoned descent in the ninth circuit opinion, we'll put it up on the screen by judge marsha berzone. she said the side effects of psychotropic medication may severely impair the defendant's

right to trial. the reasons the drugs affect his ability to think, his emotions, his ability to react. what do you think? >> well as usual, gregg, and good morning, lis is correct. fortunately the ninth circuit is not the final word on this. the supreme court has ruled that forced medication is constitutional to restore soup some one's competency to stand trial. can he understand the proceedings and can he assist his counsel? anand is his guilty plea voluntarily? if the answer to those questions is yes hopefully that will be the last we see of jerod laughner. >> if he was so kraeuszed and delusional and not competent to stand trial why not plead him not guilty by roefp reason of insanity.

>> it works about in 1% of the cases. it would keep the death penalty on the table which is exactly what the defense lawyers don't want to answer. gregg: brian, by putting him on his meds forcibly does it deprive the jury of seeing him in the same, crazed delusional state that he was in at the time of the crime. in other words, did the intended affects of the psychotropic drugs infringe on his fair trial rights? >> well, that is an interesting point, gregg and it would be relevant i think if he were going to go to trial. i think that we can't really be sure how much of his competency, assuming he's competent this morning is really due to the meds and how much of it is just that he's had a year or two to see what his future looked like as somebody who is saying they are incompetent after having severely wounded a member of congress and killed a federal judge, and maybe having seen what his future looked like in that regard he has come around to the conclusion, as i

predicted all along, that, you know, he's going to be incarcerated for life one way or the other, so he might as well get on with it. >> if i could interject for a second. what it says to me, because he wants to plead guilty, it says to me he's a competent person because you want to plead guilty to get it over with now so you are not put to death. gregg: he could break down, change his mind, show no clear understanding of what is happening. anything could happen today and i think all those things are real possibilities. i want to switch to another case. this is james holmes the suspected shooter in the soloway movie theater massacre. apparently he was being treated by a psychiatrist, and she was so concerned and had some physical evidence, that she allegedly went to the university of colorado campus police to voice her concerns. now, lis, if it's demonstrated that the university didn't take any meaningful action is there

liability? >> absolutely. huge liability. the psychiatrist, by the way, gregg, is the one that wrote the protocol for going to threat assessment, the group within the university, so she knows what she is doing. if in fact this happened. and the university did nothing? contacted no police? contacted no law enforcement? that is really bad for the university. gregg: we don't know it yet, but brian, what is your take on that? >> well, we just don't know yet, gregg, what he said to her that caused her to believe there was a high enough risk to justify breaking confidentiality, and we don't know if the risk that she perceived was homicide or suicide or both. i think it's too early to conclude that this is some kind of penn state -- gregg: they are going to sue the university regardless, they are going to sue them, right? brian? >> probably, yeah. gregg: okay. brian russell, lis wiehl thank you so much. jenna: we're going to go back to politics, the pursuit of swing-state voters heating up.

the details on mitt romney's just announced bus tour of several key states. right now carl cameron sending into our newsroom a one-on-one interview with governor mitt romney he had a moment ago. the breaking details on that and we'll bring them to you as we get them. all you parents out there, we definitely need your help on this story. should we cut summer vacation shorter and add more time in the classroom for our kids? not year-round school just a few extra weeks if you will. we'll take a fair & balanced look at whether children will benefit from a longer school year, next. questions?

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gregg: welcome back. right now governor mitt romney is at a rally in the state of illinois before heading onto iowa and starting saturday the republican candidate will be rolling through four important swing states to promote his policies for the middle class. romney's four-day bus tour will get underway in the state of virginia, and let's take a look at the statistics there. it's an important state because electoral votes 13 out of 270. their unemployment rate, however, is 5.7%, which is well below the national average of 8.3%. second stop will be the state of north carolina. the unemployment rate there is

about a point 1 above the national average, 9.4%, and the electoral votes are 15. the third stop is the state of florida. florida, help me out here. come on, florida. well, it's not popping up there. but i can tell you that florida has an unemployment rate of 8.6%, and 29 electorial votes. the final stop is the state of illinois, electoral votes 18 out of 270, and the unemployment rate there is a whooping 7.2%. meanwhile president obama is holding meetings at the white house before attending a couple of fundraisers in washington. chief white house correspondented henry is live in the briefing room. >> reporter: good to see you, gregg, what is interesting is you're talking about the unemployment in some of those swing states and we get word this morning that the head of

the federal reserve bank of boston says the economy is essentially treading water right now and the fed may need to take more action when it meets again in september to goose this economy. that is what is overhanging this entire election is the state of the economy, but the president at some of these fundraisers is talking more about tax fairness than economic growth because they believe in the obama campaign and inside the white house that that is a better argument for this president, so last night the president had kind of a new line of attack against mitt romney, a new line but the same kind of attack. take a listen. >> governor romney's plan would effectively raise tax is on middle class families with children by an average of $2,000. to pay for this tax cut, not to reduce the deficit, not to invest in things that grow our economy, like education or roads or basic research, he'd ask the middle class to pay more in taxes so that he could give another $250,000 tax cut to

people making more than $3 million a year [booing ] >> it's like raob inch hoo robin hood in reverse. it's romney hood. [cheering] >> reporter: you heard the applause in that crowd in connecticut. inside the romney camp they have a different view, they believe this is class warfare from the president. a spokesman for governor romney saying there is only one candidate in this race that is going to raise taxes on the american people and that's barack obama. while he's used taxpayer dollars to grow government and reward his donors, middle class americans have seen less income and less hope for the future. mitt romney has a plan for a strong middle class and a record of accomplishment behind it. you have the president talking about tax fairness, that may be abets argument for him because right now with unemployment high, around 8.3% and also economic growth slowing down, and i mentioned the head of the fed bank in boston saying maybe the fed needs to take action when it meets again in

september. if the fed were to goose the economy on the eve of the election maybe that helps the president in the short term but no doubt gives mitt romney more ammunition to say after four years of the president's policy he still needs the fed to jump in here and prop up the economy, gregg. gregg: thanks very much. jenna: it is certainly hard to believe but it's almost time to start the annual riot of late summer and that is back to school shopping. i'm sure some of you have started already. if some folks had their way summer vacation would be a lot shorter. supports of an extended school year believes it keeps kids from falling behind academically and from staying out of trouble. opponents believe more time in a affect on a child. what children and parents really need is a break. our guest today rick hess a resident scholar and director of education policy at the american enterprise institute. he's in favor of extending the year a little bit. peter graves, a professor of

psychology at boston college. author of free to learn, while unleashing our childrens instincts to play will make them happier, more resilient and better prepared for life. we probably have an idea on your opinion as well. this segment has started quite the conversation among our team here on "happening now." we have a lot of parents with a lot of kids at different ages, and so, what is the reaction to this story? it's been just that, that parents and kids need a break. you say, peter extending the year a little bit, even a few weeks is not worth it, why not? >> i think it's a very bad idea. we should not be increasing the amount of time that children have to spend in school. i say have to spend in school. remember, this is forced. we are making children spend more time in school. think of what we're doing. kids are not happy in school. this is a truism, everybody knows this. jenna: you're a professor, someone has to be happy in school, right? or else you wouldn't have a job. >> a few people are happy in

school and people are happy with a certain amount of school and people are happy when they can take school on their own terms, but the fact of the matter is, there are systematic studies done of kids from age 12 through 18 that show that they are less happy in school than in any other setting in which they regularly find themselves. why should we make them suffer more of that? why should we -- now. jenna: let's ask rick, why, why make them suffer, rick? >> well there is a lot of things in life which we don't necessarily love in the moment, but which we do because they are good for us. let's be honest, i think extending the school year for everybody would be a really bad idea. we want to extend the school year for kids for whom it would benefit them, and for kids who are attending schools where we are confident the time is going to be used well and it's going to be used effectively. jenna: you don't think it's a national policy. it would have to be a national thing to extend the school year, it would just happen in certain

district? >> no i think that would be a horrendous mistake, and i think state-wide policies would be a horrendous mistake. there are lots of families across the nation whose children have terrific summer experiences, traveling with the family, going to camps, taking that away from them would be a big mistake. but we have lots of kids, particularly from low-income and less educated families who experience something called summer learning loss, where they lose during the summer a big chunk of what they learned the previous year. this is why even when children start school at age six it more or less the same space, kids from low-income or less educated families are a few years behind by the time they get to high school. i think we oh i owe it to those kids to do something about it. jenna: one district kids are in school for an extra month, in that particular district the peurpb ar children are posting higher reading and math skills

and suggest we have to add extra weeks in order to be competitive with other countries. peter you don't look like you agree with that. >> i don't agree with that. first of all in the competitive of other countries many of the countries that store better than we do on the standardized tests if you think that should be the measure of education, actually require less hours of school than we do. on the issue that rick raises, which i think is a very important issue, the fact is we have a serious problem of inequality of educational opportunity in this country, and that's not even equality because the schools are unequal, that's more inequality because of unequal opportunities to learn it through one's family life, through one's extended relatives, through the opportunity to socialize with people who come from a diverse set of experiences, knowing somebody next door who is a doctor so you learn something about what it is to be a doctor and you could take that as a career. these are problems of poverty,

the disparity of poverty and wealth in our counsel tree. the school syste country. the school system has not been -- jenna: one of the things we have to consider here is money. you mentioned in certain district maybe this would be a good idea depending on what the community looks like. we know a lot of the district are suffering for funds. how do you choose or go about figuring out which schools and which communities would benefit from this. and which would not? >> sure. i mean honestly for me i think in many cases it's a matter of choice. some of, for instance the charter schools that we talk about most enthusiastically, the kip academies, achievement first, uncommon schools, use an extended school day, they have kids going to school on saturdays, and they have an extended school year. in many cases they are able to do that for about the same amount as local school district spends but that's because they operate leaner, it's because they pay teachers -- they don't y teachers a full mark up. the teachers might feel entitled

to. they simply redefine the teachers' obligations. i think if the notion is that we have to pay our current premium mark up for each additional day or hour that it is financially unworkable in many cases. jenna: interesting't think thatt to assume that. jenna: it's a big conversation we'll probably have a lot more of as we get closer to the school year. thank you so much for the time today. >> thank you. >> thank you. gregg: interesting subject. all right. two boys a little too young for their first road trip, a pair of 13 year olds from columbus, ohio have a lot of explaining to do after they took a parents' bmw for a ride, a long ride all the way to kansas city, about 700 miles away, and that may not have been their final destination. rick has more in our newsroom, rick. >> reporter: gregg, this is one of the stories that is trending right now on foxnews.com so we are monitoring it. these two 13 year olds stealing one of their parents beamers and driving it all the way from

columbus to kansas city. one of the moms called the police, gave the police the description of the car and police were able to track these two through their facebook postings. they really had an inkling where they were headed to. thankfully they were able to track them down, the two boys sleeping inside the car in an alleyway. here is a police officer. >> take off across country in a very nice car, kids that age, and to work in an alley in a major city is probably not a good idea. it could have ended a lot differently. >> reporter: probably not a good idea. they are in the hands of a local family court in kansas city. they will be held until their parents come to pick them up. i don't know about you if this was one of my kids i might have them stay there a few days to think about this. the boys not expected to be charged with anything. what happens when they get home, probably another story all together. back to you. gregg: as i say often, you're grounded for life. >> reporter: indefinitely. gregg: yeah, all right. rick, thanks very much. jenna: we've talked a lot about political action committees and the bucks they raise not just

for the big guys but amateur packs like this one, joe six-pack are getting noticed. are they for real? we'll talk a little bit about them and the impact they could be having, plus 91 days to go, the differing media strategies for both the president and governor romney. the risks and rewards next. [ donovan ] i hit a wall. and i thought "i can't do this, it's just too hard." then there was a moment. when i decided to find a way to keep going.

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gregg: presidential politics and the media, with about 13 weeks left to election day the campaign for president obama and governor romney are showing differing strategies on how they interact with, grant interviews to and take questions from the reporters that cover them. chief washington correspondent james rosen live for that story. >> reporter: even politicians who have been known to enjoy the company of reporters, such as president kennedy who liked to toss a few back in the white house with ben bradley have also been known to complain about their coverage. and reporters too are a notoriously fetching lot about

being given access to who they cover. a venting of frustration from afar. >> governor romney -- >> governor romney. [inaudible question] >> reporter: across his eight-day trip romney answered two questions from britain reporters and conducted eight interviews. not a geyser of information but at least fielding questions from the pros who cover him full time. contrast that with president obama, who last took questions from the white house press core, six of them to be exact nearly two months ago at the g-20 summit in mexico. at a cabinet meeting on july 26th the chief executive joked about hissess strangement from the press core telling a reporter who pitched the question about the colorado movie theater massacre that he could ask white house press secretary jay carney for the reporter's known number. keith koffler who wrote about

this yesterday told fox news he's heard little protest about it on the part of his colleagues in the white house press core. >> i've been covering the white house since 1997 and i've never seen a president who is so inaccessible to his own press core. clinton, bill clinton was incredibly accessible. in facts there were times when you couldn't get rid of clinton, he would always be there looking to answer questions. bush was a little bit less so, still during small events at the white house he would take a couple of questions what we call in the white house press cora pool spray. he did a certain number of press conferences and generally was accessible to questions. >> reporter: over the last tefpb weeks president obama has conducted a number of interviews with local tv a pill yachts but such sessions are not generally viewed as being as challenging as when the chief executive is grilled by those who cover him day in and day out. gregg: james rosen thanks very much. jenna: a deadly building fire in aurora, colorado. firefighters arriving to find people hanging from people, some

of them jumping to escape the flames. we'll tell you more about that. plus a program to provide free lunch for millions of children feeding a big controversy. live with that story just ahead. [ male announcer ] at scottrade, we believe the more you know, the better you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more so your money can do more. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our teams have the information you want when you need it. it's anothereason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade.

community hit by the senseless movie massacre a few weeks ago. two people were killed and 15 injured at an apartment building fire in aurora, colorado. many people had to be rescued by ladder from the upper tphaor floors of this four-story building. one person jumped to escape the flames last night. some people were hanging out of windows when firefighters arrived on scene. there is still an investigation going on. a witness reports that someone was leaving the building with a gas can. we'll update you as we get more on this. gregg: right now, chin are

getting a free meal in states like california, on the taxpayer's dime. all part of a federally funded free lunch program that provides meals for parents as well. and it's causing some controversy. claudia coulclaudia could you claudia cowen is in san francisco. >> reporter: more than 3 million people eat for free from schools, to rec centers to libraries. it's a valuable resource for those struggling and a nice freebie for those not. this cafe and others like it are funded by the u.s. department of agriculture where half the children qualify for free lunches during the school year. come summer anyone 18 and under can pull up a chair to uncle sam's table. >> there are no income requirements, no enrollment, no paperwork, all children in the community in that age range can come and eat with us for free.

>> reporter: that's why along with fruit, milk and crackers these free summer lunches come with a side of controversy. taxpayer watchdog group say most americans are fine helping children truly in need. >> however, if someone is coming from a family that makes, you know, a quarter million dollars a year, and they are not checking eligibility coming in the door, i think most people would wonder, you know, am i paying for this? >> can i help you open your milk? >> reporter: organizers contend after a summer of nourishing meals these kids will do better in school in the fall. they make sure lunch is eat even on site and that the adults don't phaofp. mooch. critics wonder if the come one come all invitation will end up helping other children, whether they are needy or not. jenna: you've heard about the new jersey money being raised by the superpacs, but they are not all huge. have you heard about joe six-pack? has that story next. people have doubts about taking aspirin for pain.

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jenna: can you give us the update on the super pacs, rec? >> as long as there is no coordination between actual campaign, when the supreme court rules in what is known as the citizens united case, the justices decision started his own super pac or that is exactly what has happened. the joe sixpack pack is a registered super pac. the talking smack pack and bringing sexy back pack. which promotes the idea that all the countries problems could be solved if only we drank more beer. maybe they should team up with the joe sixpack folks. in case you are worried that one of these elections could sway the