the letters detailed his work equipped in the navy. found just in time for independence day. heather: have a great day. heading to a cookout and watching fireworks? gregg: of the lobster. "happening now" begins now. >> brand-new stories and breaking news. >> egypt swears in an new president after military leaders out mohammed morsi. what is next for americans key ally in the middle east? plus the evidence in the murder case against nfl star aaron hernandez. a typical leading police to an apartment he was renting. what investigators found. and new video of a sinkhole so big, is swallowed a car. it is all "happening now." ♪

>> and happening now, uncertainty in egypt. rick: happy fourth, everybody. egypt's chief justice is worn in as the new interim president. mohammed morsi, first democratically elected president of egypt in military custody today. the army launching a crackdown on the brough muslim brotherhoo. president obama thing we are deeply concerned on the egyptian armed forces to remove president morsi and suspend the egyptian constitution. the president goes on to call on the military to move quickly and responsibly to return for authority dr. democratically elected civilian government. connor with more from cairo, egypt. reporter: the egyptian military appears to be in a hurry to move away from the morsi era.

i have suspended the constitution and sworn in an interim president. earlier today the chief justice of the constitutional court was sworn in. the new president promised elections in spirit in line with the spirit of the revolution which many interpret as a move to limit islamic groups of any future government. however did not say when elections would be held. a long time mo mubarak era judg. it has arrested several top leaders of the muslim brotherhood party and arrest warrants have been issued for many, many more. maybe even hundreds more. military troops continue to surround muslim brotherhood's rounsurrounding the area. at least 14 people were killed

and violence beginning late last night running through the morning here. many more have been injured. they call the military usurpers saying the coup will put some towards violence. it is plotting what to do next but there's a growing concern violence will be a part of the next move. a real concern going forward, rick, that violence is on the horizon. rick: conor, thanks. arthel: for more on this, let's bring in a former spokesman for the last four u.s. ambassadors to the u.n. good to see you. >> thanks for having me. arthel: a lot of layers. the taugh talk to me about yourt immediate concerns and what this means for the democratic process in egypt.

>> i will say something most government officials, the white house and state department officials can't say, which is removing an islamist leader like morsi is a good thing for the states and our allies in the region. the goal is to have a government that is transparent, who doesn't go after the opposition, that is respectful of human rights and freedom of the press. all in all this is a good thing to remove an islamist leader, and we have always had very good relations with the military in egypt and i think this coup is a good thing for the people of egypt in the long run but no question in the short term there are a lot ofes for the leader. arthel: military will hold elections, could take nine months to organize.

let's talk about the political roller coaster ride between now and then, and also, what about the fortitude of egypt, can it survive until the election? >> if you are talking about the future economic stability of egypt, has recognized there at one of the lowest points ever with the muslim brotherhood in charge so now i hope the military can bring a lot more stability at least that is the goal. it'll be up to the muslim brotherhood to see how they react to this. clearly it is a big loss to them, but the military is in control and we should be able to call the situation down. all in all the elections are important but again elections are never the goal, just a step toward democracy and you need a society that is respectful of all sides of the oppositions and

the government needs to recognize that it has to bring all of these people together. the young people including the muslim brotherhood have to be a part of the conversation but the goals for the new leaders and whoever is elected will be moving forward trying to have a free press and respected opposition groups. arthel: how do they play their hand at this point in what is their hand at this juncture? >> we have a lot to play because we give a lot of money to egypt. ithat is one thing the obama administration didn't do very well at. when morsi was in charge we had former secretary of state hillary clinton go to cairo and say publicly that our foreign aid was without strings, it was unconditional and i don't think

that is a very smart move to say in cairo we are completely backing an islamist president like morsi which was the wrong signal. arthel: he came in claiming going to be a president for all the people and he switched gears right away. >> but he is an islamist president from the muslim brotherhood. i don't think that means we have to give foreign aid the u.s. taxpayer hard earned dollars to an islamist president. we should have gone with multiple senate amendment from the bipartisan amendment from democrats and republicans to make our aid conditional. we don't need to give foreign aid to a government because they say they will be for the people. there is many signs this is not a president looking out for our side.

arthel: now he is a former president. we have a say in what happens in egypt? says he is willing to die for democracy and the stabilization of the country. >> the new interim president has had talks with him, to a part of the process. it can be very sensitive because they just had a huge loss and have been thrown out. feelings will be tense and violent in the short term will be a part of the process but it is important the interim president recognize that to move forward with democracy in elections you have to be respectful of all sides. arthel: it is muslim brotherhood, how many jockey for political positioning in history?

>> you have to make it clear violence is never part of the political process. i have to reject violence, make peace with their neighbors. on other agreements with israel. had to demonstrate that they have to act like a government and not political group. arthel: thank you. rick: the other big story today, edward snowden is running out of options. bolivian president weighing in on the latest twist involving the nsa leaker request for asylum. his held up without a valid passport or anywhere to go. live in washington, good to see you. reporter: u.s. pressured

european allies to walk a private jet that has opened to accepting snowden's asylum request. >> and open provocation to the battling the president using agents of u.s. imperialism to scare us and intimidate us. they won't scare us because we're people who have dignity and are sovereign. reporter: bolivian president touched down in the capital and received a hero's welcome. his private jet rerouted on suspicions. it is unclear if the source of those diversions were that snowden was on board. >> i am not getting into a hypothetical, that is not something that is currently happening that we are currently

discussing. reporter: libya plans to complain calling it an abduction. rick: speaking of the present and the white house, what is the latest thinking on the saga as it goes on and on with snowden at the airport which mark >? reporter: the white house officials and european officials in the coming days about allegations u.s. is spying on its allies with private citizens at the governmental level. the white house put out a statement that obama spoke on the phone with angela merkel after the meeting in europe to assure the german chancellor the u.s. takes the discussions seriously. germany seems cool at best to snowden's request for asylum there. >> a request for asylum in all

and made when a person is in the country. the right to stay in germany is possible if it is a humanitarian issue. i think it is quite obvious in the snowden case, that is not what it is about. united states the constitutional state, democracy with independent courts, a free press and critical public. reporter: ecuador's foreign nation says they will stand in n the london embassy. significantly the embassy is the home to the founder of wikileaks living there under an asylum deal and seems to be steering a lot of snowden's request for asylum at this point. rick: thank you very much. arthel: we're just getting started, moments after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl, a dramatic

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arthel: new information of crime stories we are following. a tip from a friend of former new england patriots player aaron hernandez leads authorities to an apartment in franklin, massachusetts. aaron hernandez said to have called his flophouse. turned up weapons and clothing. he is charged with murder in that case. a southern california high school teacher has been arrested two weeks after giving birth to a baby that was allegedly fathered by a student. 28-year-old laura whitehurst is charged with having with a 15-year-old. and moments after missouri businessman was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl, wh he swallowa dose of cyanide in front of a stunned courtroom he had he collapsed and later died at a hospital. rick: in other news, growing questions about the white house

plans to delay the deadline for companies to provide health care coverage for their employees, companies with at least 50 employees could face fines if they didn't comply with the law next year. the obama administration pushed the law to 2015, after the midterm congressional election in 2014. david, good to see you. his white house waving a white flag? >> that is certainly what the republicans will say. on one hand they have been deprived of campaigning against the new employer mandate, you may think the political motive would be to take the weapon out of the democrats hands. but the republicans say the president is waving the white flag afraid to run on this, but americans will say is it only way to get rid of this thing is

to hire more republicans to go to congress to repeal it altogether. rick: this is a pro-business move, this is the administration listening to the concerns the business community which had stated it needs more time for the ins and outs of the mandate, this gives them that time and this is a signal administration is listening to the business community. is that genuineness, is that you know throughout history,

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arthel: welcome back. "happening now." a car pulled from a 10-foot deep sinkhole. it had been in northwest ohio. officials had to use a crane to get the car out. police believe a water main break caused the road to open up and swallow the vehicle. the woman driving a car managed to climb out after she was given a letter. she was taken to the hospital for a checkup.

rick: waiting for new unemployment reports to come out for june tomorrow. economic indicators to talk about right now. steve moore, economic columnist for the "wall street journal." 2010 the wall street called that recovery summer which really was not, but 2013 is it more appropriate, are we out of the sinkhole now? >> i was going to use the same metaphor it has felt like the american economy has been a giant can call. this is officially the fourth year of recovery believe it or not, rick. look, this is the fourth of july, i do think the news is really improving, the american economy is starting to slip into a higher gear. i will make the production we get perhaps 200,000 jobs according to report that comes out tomorrow that will be a big

improvement. lot of reasons to feel like things are picking up now. rick: for those who are not economists, can get confusing talking about the economy and why things happen and react the way they do. when ben bernanke started talking about how the economy was doing better, did not need as much help from the fed, the market started to plunge. explain to us how all that happens, why that is actually a sign things are getting better and what we should think about. >> i will explain the reaction to ben bernanke's declaration a week ago which was the one bad piece of news is that we are addicted to cheap money like it is cocaine. i think that is a negative thing but the market really calm down, pretty good week for stocks and

i would expect that to continue. if you want to look at the areas of the economy, it does not look positive. one is obviously housing. pickup in sales, pick up a new housing getting people holding homes, mortgage rates although they have risen a little bit over the past month rs loss i have they have been in 30 years. the bigger picture, if i make, is the energy story. an amazing statistic for the fourth of july. at the beginning of this month guess which country produced the most oil in june of 2013. the united states of america for the first time in 35 years the united states became the number one oil producer because it was going on in colorado, in texas, pennsylvania and north dakota. something making up the american economy very efficient. rick: let me ask about the politics of this.

the jobs numbers coming out and the indicators, but we live in a world where politicians are looking to make policies and looking to score points politically, so how does this all to the political landscape where the start of this year every week it felt like we were coming up against some sort of a cliff, no deficits are beginning to shrink. what does this mean for the town over your shoulder? >> that last point you made is critically important. we are in a sequester environment in washington, d.c., were $80 billion of cuts. remember everybody said that will be armageddon, it has actually been healthy for the economy. you are spot on right, the budget deficit is falling. still $600 billion per year, but that is a big improvement from over a trillion the last three years.

the president will take credit for this. this is still in the context of a normal recovery, still only half of where we should be in terms of the jobs this american economy has created. quite a bit of work to be done to get back to work. rick: enjoy the holiday with your family, thank you so much. >> youtube. arthel: president obama calling for deduction in nuclear weapons. plus why some critics call it dangerous. big downpours could put a downplay on holiday plans. meteorologist janet dean. the great outdoors...

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arthel: a fox news weather alert, the east coast seeing hot, sticky conditions this fourth of july. a live look here in new york city where the temperature is soaring towards 90 degrees. meanwhile, the west expecting a slight break in the blistering heat. they've seen recently. meteorologist janice dean joins us now with more. hey, j.d. >> reporter: happy fourth of july. rick: happy fourth. >> reporter: i have some good news and bad news, unfortunately. some of those plans could be canceled or delayed because of heavy rain, especially across portions of the southeast. 83 right now in new york but humid, humid, humid. almost the same amount of humidity in new york as in tampa, florida. that's how humid it is, it's oppressive. so make sure that the little ones are hydrated, and you're checking on them, the little ones and the elderly, of course. 76 in minneapolis, 82 in dallas, 94 in phoenix. believe it or not, that's a cooldown from what they have seen over the last several weeks. look at what we've got lined up here. this is the area that i'm

concerned about, especially across the areas of the gulf coast up towards the southeast and the carolinas, the ohio river valley, interior northeast. we've got this jet stream sort of banked up, all of this rainfall and then high pressure in the atlantic is funneling all this moisture from the tropics, and it's just pounding across portions of the florida panhandle. look at some of the rainfall over the last 48 hours, in some cases over a foot of rain just north of panama city and south of tallahassee. this is going to be ongoing, unfortunately, for the next day or two, and it could a damper on fourth of july activities. we also have a flash flood warning west of tallahassee. otherwise, the rest of the country fairly quiet. afternoon thunderstorms across the four corners which could cool things off a little bit. 83234 kansas city, 82 in chicago. new york, you will remain dry. that high pressure in the atlantic is going to keep most of the coast from the mid

atlantic up towards new england dry, but interior sections it's going to be rainy, and in some cases a lot of rain in a short period of time. your fancy fireworks forecast, boston looks good as does d.c., minneapolis. miami, you could see a few thunderstorms, so keep an eye to the sky and adhere to your local fox weather stations. phoenix, 104 again -- cool, relatively cool for that. seeing record heat over the last week or so. new york city looking good, 83. it's still going to be very humid out so, again, just take precautions and, of course, hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. you know that does not include beer. rick: exactly. [laughter] arthel: make sure he knows that. >> reporter: water. rick: you should always have fireworks. >> reporter: aren't they nice? that's my producer. happy fourth. arthel: happy fourth. thanks, janice. turning to this now, president obama facing sharp criticism for what are calling his nuclear-zero dream. speaking in berlin recently, the

president proposed the u.s. and russia reduce their strategic nuclear warheads by one-third. listen. >> we may no longer live in fear of global annihilation, but so long as nuclear weapons exist, we are not truly safe. [applause] arthel: but critics say the idea that the world would be safer with less nukes is naive and dangerous. joining us now, jack david, senior fellow at the hudson institute and former deputy assistant secretary of defense. hello and happy fourth. >> thank you for inviting me. hello. happy fourth to you too. arthel: thank you. let's get right to it. you say the idea is flat out nonsensical. why? >> there are three very important things to remember. first of all, not even -- nuclear weapons exist. man has created them, and not even the president of the united states can change that. second, there are men who would use nuclear weapons to get

advantage over other men, including advantage over the united states. and third, this terrible problem of the existence of nuclear weapons and people who would use them to abuse them and abuse us is something that must be managed. the nuclear arsenal of the united states, nuclear weapons and the delivery systems we have to deter others from doing that have worked for 65, 68 years. and to arbitrarily redeuce them by one-third is below what many have said is possible. and, certainly, to do it by some mechanical means of picking a number of one-third was -- because you want to have no nuclear weapons in the world is unrealistic and unsafe. arthel: okay, jack, you mentioned you would like to deter countries like china, like russia from using the nukes on the u.s. and its allies. how do you go about doing that? >> well, the way it has been done for 65 years, and i must

say as former secretary of defense james schlessinger has said, nuclear weapons are used every day in this way. they're used because the existence of the u.s. deterrent force of nuclear weapons has discouraged other countries -- china, russia, particularly russia -- from using their nuclear weapons to threaten us to take actions which are against our interests which they would prefer us taking. should there be a conflict with japan that we might want to help japan or a conflict with, with russia over an issue like syria -- arkansas around sure. >> we would not, we would be less likely to be threatened with nuclear attack for not plying. arthel: of course, the president

is saying russia and the u.s. need to reduce stockpiles and capabilities by a third. if it's such a bad idea, why would the president use the world stage to present that proposal? >> using the world stage to present the proposal is not, doesn't really relate to the merits of the proposal. the number of nuclear weapons we have, the number of delivery systems we have should be calculated by whether or not they are sufficient to protect us and our allies. and the way they protect us and our allies and the way they have been protecting us and our allies is that they -- we have sufficient numbers so that they cannot be eliminated by another country like russia or china or -- that would consider eliminating our nuclear weapons because we have three different ways of delivering them. and because we can use nuclear weapons to hold things that they hold dear at risk. so it's not worth their while to threaten us with nuclear

weapons. arthel: okay. >> that's -- by saying a third, nuclear weapons are bad and we should eliminate them because they're bad is really ducking the question of how do we protect ourselves against something that is existing, that always will exist because man has created it. arthel: jack david, i have to leave it there. thank you very much, sir. >> thank you. rick: coming up this independence day, it's a very special one for lady liberty. what's happening at the statue for the first time since superstorm sandy. we'll tell you. >> hello from kabul, afghanistan. my name is sergeant first class -- [inaudible] i'd like to wish everyone in louisiana happy fourth of july, especially my grandson and aidan and my son trevor.

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arthel: as america celebrates the fourth of july, the statue of liberty opening once again, reopening to the public welcoming visitors for the first time since superstorm sandy swamped her island. rick leventhal is live from liberty island. hi, rick. >> reporter: a brilliantly-hot day here, arthel, and a pretty exciting day for the people of new york and people around the world who hadn't been able to come and see lady liberty for basically the past two years. first, it was shut down for repairs, and then it was shut down because of hurricane sandy. but it has reopened today, it's a pretty big day for a lot of folks including the secretary of interior, sally jewell, who came out for the ribbon cutting. you had those giant scissors in your hand. >> i did. >> reporter: what does this mean to have this open again? >> it stands for liberty, it stands for freedom, combined with ellis island, it stands for immigration as well. we are a nation of immigrants and the first people that were here before us, and there's just no better symbol than this.

>> reporter: i know you're wearing a purple ribbon in honor of the firefighters who lost their lives in arizona, another very important message that needs to be delivered on this day. >> that's absolutely true. sunday we lost 19 fire fights in arizona. firefighters and first responders bond together as a community, so i'm wearing this in solidarity of them and so many that work at a local level, a state and a federal level on fighting fires. and arizona's hot and dry, so is a lot of the west, and i wear this in honor of them. >> reporter: well, we appreciate that. it's, you know -- and then to see all these folks here celebrating america, celebrating independence and hooking at this incred -- looking at this incredible statue for the first time in many cases up close and personal, she is beautiful, and she's open to the public. but if you want to go to the top, you're going to have to reserve your ticket in advance, and those are pretty hard to come by. i know you had a tour. >> i did. >> reporter: what can people look forward to when they go

inside? >> whether you're on the pedestal or you have tickets to see the crown, what you'll see the new york, new jersey, the whole new york harbor and most importantly, ellis island. and it just puts in perspective what people saw for the first time when they came to this country, and i think that's very important. >> >> reporter: madam secretary, thank you very much for being with us. happy july fourth. arthel: happy july fourth. thank you very much. rick: well, the secretary just mentioned that arizona wildfire and the firefighters who died. the fire still rages. meantime, a memorial service is planned for those firefighters who died trying to stop it. we're live in arizona with the latest on that. also, an army staff sergeant suffers catastrophic injuries in afghanistan losing both of his arms and legs in an ied attack, but he is not letting it stop him from living a full life. an inspiring update on sergeant travis mills and his remarkable

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arthel: right now an update on staff sergeant travis mills who lost both of his arms and legs in an ied attack in afghanistan. sergeant mills hasn't let his injuries stop him. fox news has been following his progress over the past year. our own jenna lee recently visited him and his family at walter reed bethesda, and what she found there is truly inspiring. >> how many times do you think you have been around this track? >> oh, a lot. 26 lap is the a mile. >> really? >> i've done a lot of miles in here. >> can do you remember your first day? >> yeah, i do. i didn't do much. i just did some ab stuff on the mat and went back and went to sleep, i was so tired. i can sit up. >> looking back a little bit over a year ago, what do you

think of the last year? >> when i talked to you last, i mean, i really don't remember our conversation because it was so fresh and new, but, i mean, i didn't imagine he'd be sitting or standing here walking around, running, doing all the sports he's done and how far he's come in a year is pretty impressive. >> at the very beginning, seeing myself, the new you is rough. i look at myself in the mirror, i couldn't do it for a while just because, i mean, i got nothing left. >> what do you see now when you look in the mirror? >> oh, i mean, this devilishly good looking, handsome face, of course. no, just the same person. i mean, life's a little bit more adaptive, or, you know, changed a little bit, but it's not, it's nothing i can't accomplish or get through. >> what would you say have been some of the hardest days here? >> i just had got my legs, i just received them, my short legs, and i was really excited and pumped about it, and i was driving in my chair. i wasn't buckled in. i was driving too fast, didn't have a lot of core strength, and

i went too fast out one of the doors, and the chair shot me forward. i fell out of my chair, actually, cat catapulted. i fell out on the ground, cried out in pain. manly, of course. no, and then i was set back two weeks from walking. >> what's been the hardest part of the last year? >> um, seeing him struggle. but he's overcome everything that has been thrown his way, so -- and she hasn't been too easy this year. >> how old was she when he was injured? >> six and a half months. she's 19 months now. so she's grown up here around. i like that she's grown up around, you know, prosthetics and disabilities because i think it'll just make her a better-rounded person. and she doesn't think it's weird when she sees people with no legs. >> yeah. she's okay with giving my hook a high-five. high-five? no? you tired? okay, my bad. [laughter] >> we haven't really talked about this, but i was just curious, has faith come into play? your belief in god? what's been a driving force to

help you through the last year? >> to say it hasn't been tested would be a lie, you know, to wonder why this would happen to you, to wonder, you know, was he really there watching me? am i a bad person? what's going on? but just through it you find your own inner strength, and you find out bad things happen in the world. who am i to be sad because i had the opportunities i had? i chose my career in the army, and i knew what happened, and it did. luckily, battlefield medicine has saved me, i can hang out with my wife, you know, and we can plan our dreams. arthel: an incredible family, and, jenna, thanks so much for bringing that story to us. right now plans are in the works to build a new home for travis mills and many others like him. building for america's bravest is part of the tunnels to towers foundation. it builds homes with technology that helps service members with catastrophic injuries live more independent lives. and joining us right now is the chairman and ceo of the tunnels and towers foundation.

so good to see you and what an amazing thing your doing here. first of all, frank, tell us more about the program. >> well, first of all, happy fourth of july. arthel: happy fourth of july. >> we were down at ground zero this morning with travis and kelsey and chloe -- rick: quite a family. >> quite a family. and we have 17 other triple and quadruple amputees down there. we're building specially-adapted houses that gives them back some of their independence. think of you and i to get something out of a cabinet is nothing, but for them it's something because they're either on prosthetics or a wheelchair. so they're able to hit an ipad, and the cabinets are lowered. they go into their showers, they can take care of themselves. they don't have to ask, travis won't have to ask kelsey, can you come in and help me? it's designed for them. the correct heights, the correct widths, every injured service member has different needs in these houses, and they're specially designed for them. so we're doing many of these

houses, and travis, we actually just put a offer in on a piece of land in manchester, maine -- arthel: very nice. >> -- for him, yep, and hopefully we'll have it by the end of next week, and we can start designing his house. and he designs it from start to finish. he picks everything out and where he wants to live. rick: this is a program -- arthel: if i may, how long does it take to build a house like this? >> so these houses are, because of the smart technology, they don't go up in, you know, two or three months, it takes -- quite a process in the design and the building of it. so start to finish is usually in about a year. so, hopefully, this time next year we can come here, and he'll be in his house. arthel: all right. rick: what a great thing to do for those who are most catastrophically injured after returning from the battlefield, and also a great tribute for your brother who died on 9/11 and was really the impetus behind the formation of your organization that's really doing all of this home building and so many other good works. tunnels to towers, tell us about

that. >> well, my brother ran through the tunnel on 9/11 to get to ground zero where he gave up his life, and he inspired his family to start a foundation. he was the youngest of seven, and we've done many things over the years. and we've come to realize that we're at war, obviously, because of what happened on 9/11. and we want to make sure that we take care of those who have paid a big price for our freedom. and these guys are the most severely injury -- injured, the catastrophically injured service members that we want to take care of. and i think my brother's looking down very proud of what we're doing. my brother was married, had five beautiful children. they're very involved, will be on the intrepid tonight. intrepid took care of our great heroes to make sure that they were going to see the fireworks. rick: very nice. >> it's quite an effort. we also do that with the gary sinise foundation, they're great partners with us. to build these houses, we're building for america's bravest. these are our bravest, you know,

without a doubt, and people go to ourbravest.org to make sure that we have travis' house built. you can do go right there, see travis' story and donate right to his house. rick: frank, thank you so much. ourbravest.org. thanks again and enjoy the holiday with your family, and have fun on the intrepid. >> absolutely. thank you. arthel: okay. to meet some of the soldiers on the program. tune in to "america live" today at 1 p.m. eastern, following this show. rick: breaking developments out of egypt where a new interim president has been sworn in after the first democratically-elected leader was forced from power, taken into custody. what a changing political order in egypt could mean for the middle east as a whole, that a's coming up. so then the little tiny chipmunks go all the way up...

♪ [ female announcer ] when your swapportunity comes, take it. ♪ what? what? what? [ female announcer ] yoplait. it is so good. rick: celebrations in cairo after the military ousts egypt's first democratically-elected president. the impact this has on our critical ally in the region, israel. and white house reaction as well. also, a serious new warning about prescription painkillers and the rise in deadly overdoses for a very surprising group. we'll tell you who. and today we celebrate, of course, the fourth of july. we're live around the country and in afghanistan with our troops. as we mark america's birthday. ♪ ♪ arthel: fox news alert on new fallout from the coup in egypt on america's independence day.

i'm arthel neville. rick: and i'm rick folbaum, and we're live in cairo where there's word the supreme leader of the muslim brotherhood has just been arrested. he was believed to be the real source of power during the rule of the ex-president there, mohamed morsi. morsi now under house arrest at an undies closed location. his ouster by the military yesterday sparking celebrations across cairo with crowds dancing and waving flags as fireworks let -- lit up the sky. egypt's sewer rim president -- interim president being sworn in just hours ago until a new president can be elected, but no date is set for that vote. wendall goler is live at the white house, but we start with conor powell who's live in cairo. >> reporter: egypt's military consolidated its grip over the country. first order of business was removing the muslim brotherhood-backed constitution that has officially been suspended.

they also have sworn in a new president, the former chief justice of the constitution, monsour is now the president of egypt. he's a longtime mubarak regime era sort of ally of the military, powerful judge during the '90s and early 2000s. he's now the president of egypt here. now, of course, the military is also moving against the muslim brotherhood. there are reports that at least two or three of the senior muslim brotherhood leaders have been arrested, and there are arrest warrants for a dozen more. right now we don't know the status of many of those members of the muslim brotherhood, but we understand that they are fearing for, that they are about to be arrested. there have been clashes across egypt not just in cairo, but in other cities as well between the muslim brotherhood and pro-morsi supporters and the military. at least 16 people have been killed, hundreds more have been injured. now, in that lean square there has been -- tahrir square they are still celebrating, but it's not the gigantic celebrations we

saw last night. it's beginning to fill up now. they are still celebrating, but they are really looking forward to a new day here and waiting to see what the military will do over the course of the next few months. we are supposed to find out what this road map to democracy and this transition will look like. the new president has promised elections, but he has not said when. the people in tahrir square do want it to happen quickly, but even if they're in the near future, there's no guarantee this will end the deep political divisions that have tragically plagued egypt in the last two years. rick: conor powell live from cairo, thanks. arthel: egypt is a critical american ally in the middle east, and the country gets more than a billion dollars a year in aid from the u.s. so president obama is watching the situation there very closely just as protesters gathered outside the white house. and the president met with his national security team right after word of the military action ousting president morsi

came down. the president issuing a statement saying, quote: i now call on the egyptian military to move quickly and responsibly to return full authority back to a democratically-elected civilian government as soon as possible through an inclusive and transparent process and to avoid any arbitrary arrests of president morsi and his supporters, end quote there from the president. senior white house foreign affairs correspondent wendell goler is live with the latest and, wendell, what does the removal of morsi mean for u.s. aid to egypt? >> reporter: arthel, that is not yet clear. the president's carefully-crafted statement avoided using the word "coup" which may enable him to work around a u.s. law that says the government must suspend aid to any nation whose elected leader is ousted in a coup d'etat. his statement also said, quote: given today's developments, i have also directed the relevant departments and agencies to review the implications under

u.s. law for our assistance to the government of egypt. the president also had asked the military not to arrest president morsi or his supporters, though it appears that morsi is under house arrest, and the muslim brotherhood's supreme leader has been arrested, charged with the killing of a number of protesters outside his headquarters. the president's statement expresses concern but carefully avoids criticizing the military. it calls for a new government in which all voices are heard, those who protested and those who supported morsi as well. arthel? arthel: wendell, what's the reaction on capitol hill? >> reporter: as you know, morsi didn't have many friends in the u.s. congress, his removal being seen as a second chance for a democratic egypt. eric cantor said, quote: >> r eporter: california republican congressman ed royce even more critical, calling morsi's

leadership incompetent and an attempted power grab and predicting egypt has difficult days ahead. overseas turkey and tunisia condemned morsi's ouster. qatar welcomed it. the french president said the democratic process has stopped in egypt and must return. arthel? arthel: wendell goler, thank you very much for that report in d.c. happy fourth, by the way. >> reporter: happy fourth. rick: for more, we're joined by retired four-star general jack keane who is former vice chief of staff for the army and a fox news military analyst. nice to spend part of my fourth with a four-star general. thanks very much for your service and your time. always good to talk to you. >> good to see you, rick. rick: what's your take on this. >> obviously, it's a step back, but at the same time it demonstrates literally how out of sync this government was with its, with its people. i mean, they consolidated power,

they excluded their political opponents, they wrote almost an islamic constitution, heading towards an islamic state. and the real challenge that they had was to take care of an economy that was in the tank. and as a result of their rule, you know, the gdp plummeted from 7% to 1, prices rose, fuel lines increased, significant shortages of food, federal reserves were depleted, the tourist system stayed in the tank. so it was a disaster. and it's major setback, i think, for islamic governments. you see it in, you see it in tehran, you see it in lebanon and also with the hamas in this gaza. rick: and so might that then be a good thing for the u.s. and our interests? >> well, we certainly are not for military coups deposing democratic governments, that's a fact -- rick: but. >> but there is a huge opportunity here. and i hope that our government gets involved in this process to help steer this process,

although we can't control it. but we can influence it. after mubarak was deposed, the generals took the political stage. think didn't like it, and they were relatively inept at managing it. we should have helped them much more than what we did. we took the hands-off approach with them much as we did in iraq after 2011. i hope that we're in this time privately helping them move back towards a democratic path and certainly guiding them not to stomp all over the muslim brotherhood in the process. because you've got to bring them into this political process. you don't want them outside of it. far too many of the ones on the right will go to guns as opposed to the political process. rick: we saw the picture of the president sitting with his national security team. wendell goler talked a little bit about the way that the administration might be able to use financial aid to egypt as a way to influence what goes on there in the days and weeks to come. what do you think those conversations were like between the president and his team as

they sort of map out a strategy for the next, let's just say the next 30 days? >> well, i think they know this is really a dangerous situation. with the radical islamists on the far right of the muslim brotherhood, they quickly want violence. and we've got to appeal to the more moderate muslim brotherhood that we're not going to abandon the political process, that they're going to be able to participate. the generals have to convince them of that, and the new interim government has to convince them of that, and the united states has to be involved in that process. and the fact that we're out arresting a number of them right now is going to be very disturbing to that movement and sends a bad sign that we're excluding them from this process. so we've got to be all in in an inclusive path ahead and a return to a democratic process to minimize the lack of stability, lack of instability and minimize the potential danger of the violence that's here. i mean, there's a crisis brewing here if this isn't managed

properly. rick: of course, israel very close to this crisis that's unfolding in egypt, obviously, our interests are with them. we have military assets in that area. what kinds of discussions are our military leaders having right now as far as those assets, how to maneuver them, how to best use them, how to protect them? >> well, the fact of the matter is that we have had a very close relationship militarily with both countries, egypt providing aid on an annual basis, their military equipment kind of looks like ours on the ground and in the air, and obviously a very close relationship with israel. we did welcome morsi's recognition of the peace treaty between egypt and israel as a welcome sign. and i know israel did as well. but we made another mistake much as we did with mubarak. we appreciated the peace treaty, we appreciated his help with terrorism, we left him alone

with his domestic situation which eventually boiled over. we were doing the same thing with morsi, and i think we've got to get back involved. and if we can't control it, nor shall we try, but we certainly should be influencing it. and i know the israelis would appreciate that, because no one wants to see another government fall. what they want to see here is stability -- rick: right. >> and contribute to the region. egypt really matters in this region historically and culturally. they are a huge country to the region. rick: general jack keane, retired four-star general. enjoy your holiday. >> happy fourth. arthel: the holiday's here. final preparations underway for the big fourth of july show at the capitol. we are live from the national mall. also, celebrating independence day, colonel oliver north standing by with what our troops are doing today, but first a message from one of our soldiers. >> i'm part of the 3rd u.s. infantry regiment, and i'd like

to give a shout out to my friends back at home in baton rouge, louisiana, happy independence day. ♪ ♪ let's play: [ all ] who's new in the fridge! i help support bones... [ ding! ] ...the immune system... [ ding! ] ...heart health... [ ding! ] ...and muscles. [ ding! ] that can only be ensure complete! [ female announcer ] the four-in-one nutrition of ensure complete. a simple choice to help u eat right. [ major nutrition ] nutrition in charge.

arthel: independence day, a time to remember the sacrifices made for our freedom, those who have served and be those still fighting today. our troops in afghanistan celebrating the day by holding a naturalization ceremony.

here's a little bit of that. >> for some of you and your families, that struggle has been very difficult. but regardless of how you have arrived at this point, on behalf of your fellow soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines and on behalf of your fellow citizens, congratulations. i am very proud to serve with you. god bless all of you, and god bless the united states of america. arthel: colonel oliver north is streaming live from kabul. colonel? >> that was a great ceremony. 37 americans, soldiers, sailor, airmen, guardmen, marines, who have been serving our country in uniform became american citizens today. it was a wonderful example of what we do here. i'm standing next to senior airman chris baker who's been over here now for almost seven months serving as a communicator over here, and i want to just get a sense from you, chris, give us a sense for what independence day means to you.

>> many to me, independence day means a day where you stay close to your family, spend time with your loved ones, celebrate our freedom. >> you got to celebrate your freedom by offering the afghan people the hope of the kind of liberty that we enjoy. give us a sense for what you're looking forward to when you get home. >> just spending time with my family, eating a nice home-cooked meal and just being around my loved ones. >> anybody at home you want to say hi to. >> no to my mom and my dad. i love you and i miss you. >> you know, arthel, this has been a wonderful opportunity to see the kinds of things that america's doing, and they really are offering the afghan people the kinds of hope for the freedom and liberties that we enjoy at home. that's what every one of them out here are doing, over 60,000 americans. and the hope is that they're going to come home safe and sound and be able to celebrate this wonderful day every fourth of july and maybe the people of afghanistan will have that kind of freedom as well. arthel? arthel: that is, indeed, the

hope. colonel oliver north, thank you very much for that remarkable story. rick: and on this independence day, we also honor the brave u.s. soldiers who returned home after fighting overseas. one program now working to help veterans readjust to civilian life. dominic di-natale is live in los angeles with that. dominic? >> reporter: hey there, rick. while the overall unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans actually drop inside may down to 7%, it's still a struggle for many returning vets to find work some bouncing between part-time jobs and also searching for their next mission in life. now one organization is helping vets who still want to serve their communities right here at home. from working to defend our country to battling to a job, sometimes the transition isn't easy. >> it's difficult when you come out of the military, and you don't have those big, giant networks beyond your military friends. >> reporter: rory driscoll found it tough to readjust to

civilian life once he returned to american soil. >> people think veterans and military are these complete different, alien species, and it's hard to let them, or hard to convince people, no, we're just like you. we just did a different job for a little while. >> reporter: that's where the mission continues comes in. it's an organization that helps veterans transition by offering six month paid fellowships. when they come back home, the mission continues helps them to rebuild that sense of community, connect to other people in their community and helps them to rebuild that sense of purpose. veronica served four years in the marine corps. she paired up with a haw center that provides free legal services to victims of human rights violations. >> i'm always looking for that kind of opportunity where i can give back. >> reporter: the mission continues gives veterans a way to do just that, by taking on a new challenge here at home. >> i looked at environmental science as another way to give back to the world and do it in a way that's a little more calmed down and relaxed.

>> reporter: and rory there just finished his fellowship with a group that promotes water conservation and improving water quality, and so far the group has placed p 00 vet -- 700 vets with different nonprofit agencies. the study found that three-fourths of the mission continues fellows continue their schooling after finishing the program and, of course, more schooling usually leads to better-paying jobs which is great news for vets. back to you, rick. rick: thanks for telling their story. dominic di-natale in the los angeles. arthel: prosecutors could be close to resting their case in the george zimmerman murder trial. our legal panel looks at the testimony so far and the strength of the state's case. plus, a fierce battle still underway against that massive wildfire that killed 19 elite firefighters. we are live on the ground in arizona. ♪ ♪ ♪ i'm in my work van, having lunch,

next minute i'm in the back of an ambulance having a heart attack. the emts gave me bayer aspirin. it helped save my life. i was in shape, fit. i did not see it coming. my doctor recommends i take bayer aspirin to help prevent another heart attack. [ male announcer ] aspirin is not appropriate for everyone so be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. i've lived through a massive heart attack. i don't take life for granted. see your doctor and get checked out. ♪

arthel: prosecutors preparing to rest te in the george zimmerman murder trial. yesterday the state calling an expert witness to testify about the dna found on both men's clothing. george zimmerman says he was acting in self-defense when he shot and killed trayvon martin, but the dna analyst says none of zimmerman's dna was found under martin's fingernails. >> in this case, because the dna profile matched trayvon martin, i mean, there was no dna foreign to him on that sample. >> in other words, from the finning l nail scapings of trayvon martin, you did not find any of george zimmerman's dna there, is that correct? >> no. there was nothing foreign to trayvon martin. arthel: but in cross-examines, zimmerman's defense attorneys pushed back. listen. >> sometimes you can touch an object and there not be any dna

left behind. >> that's correct. >> sometimes if there might even be blood, it could be wiped off. >> yes, that's correct as well. items can be washed and cleaned, wiped, washed, and that could affect my ability to get any dna from touch evidence or blood evidence on an item. arthel: bring in our legal panel now, esther is a criminal defense attorney, doug burns, a former federal prosecutor. good to see both of you. >> thank you. >> good to be here. arthel: also wednesday an army jag, captain carter, taught a criminal litigation course at seminole state college, he taught george zimm zimmerman -- an a student, in fact, and he took another criminal investigation class which included course work in florida's self-defense law. zimmerman also taught the stand your ground law. so, doug, start with you on this one testimony yesterday, how will the prosecution use this testimony? >> well, i don't fault the judge, arthel, for letting that in, but at the same time i'm not

so sure, and i'll be curious what esther thinks as to really that shows one way or another. okay, so perhaps he was a good student in some type of law enforcement course and perhaps he was aware of the legal fact that he was not under an obligation or a duty to retreat unlike in certain other venues but, again, i don't necessarily see that helps or hurts one way or the other. i agree with all the experts who say that the prosecution's case may not have gone in all that well, but at the same time i don't think the defense is completely out of the water, and i can explain that more in a moment. arthel: well, esther, you jump in. should this testimony have defense on its heels? >> no. in fact, it doesn't hurt the defense, it doesn't help the defense. it doesn't do much of anything. i think what it does show, and i agree with doug that really there's no benefit, it shows that the prosecution's a little desperate, that they're reaching. they're trying to go back to say that many years before george zimmerman took once class that talked about sand your ground

which was or still is the law in florida? so what? he's learning about the law? okay. what is bad about that? that's he on notice what the law is in florida? lots of people are. does that mean they should be convicted because they took a class and understood what the law is? i mean, it's kind of a reach. i don't know what their nexus is to show that it was in his head as he's wrestling around on the ground, and he shot trayvon martin not in self-defense. it just, there's no link. i just think it looks like they're reaching. and they don't need it. well, actually, they -- >> right. >> the defense is doing a really good job in showing there's so much doubt in this case and specifically on that dna evidence. you saw on that cross that they couldn't rule out that trayvon martin's, the -- dna was on the gun or that george zimmerman's dna could have been under trayvon martin or on trayvon martin. >> see, the summation for the defense, arthel, is, ladies and

gentlemen, if they could come in and prove to you beyond a reasonable doubt that this was not self-defense, that's what they would have done. instead, they come in and tell you that he got an a in a course years ago. arthel: all right. doug, i'm going to stay with you on this. the prosecution is set to rest its case tomorrow. >> yes. arthel: perhaps not before calling sabrina fulton to the stand, trayvon martin's mother. what impact will that testimony have on jurors? >> well, that's a great question because, you know, obviously, everybody on all sides of the courtroom are very, very sympathetic to anybody who's lost a life in their family. and so, you know, the defense probably will not question her much at all, and she's going to definitely have quite an impact. however, if you were going to ask her one question, you would just say, you know, ma'am, you're not familiar with exactly what took place that night in the encounter, and you sit down, and that's it. arthel: so that's not what they're going to ask her.

they're going to ask her is that her son's voice yelling on that tape? >> let me just say this, i'm glad you mentioned that because it was so interesting. when the voice expert said he couldn't identify the scream, he then said a relative could. but then came the brutal knockout punch i want to throw in the, but he said there's what's called listener bias, and that sets up an unbelievable argument for the defense. arthel: after getting to that cross-examination, you know, it's going to be tricky because, of course, they don't want to beat up on a grieving mother. they still want to win the case. so how far does defense go with trayvon martin's mother? >> i don't think they go very far. there's no need. everybody in that jury box and everybody watching feels for that mother and feels for her loss. you don't need to beat her up. and, in fact, if the defense does, they risk losing a lot of points with the jury just for doing so. she's a victim in this no matter which way you believe, sabrina fulton is a victim in this case. so they're not -- i don't think they're going to touch her.

but what they can do, the defense can do is put trayvon martin's father on the stand in their case to say that he could not identify or actually said it is not my son's voice on that tape. >> are right, right. >> so they can do it -- the defense can put other evidence of the martin family in their own case if they choose to. but i don't think they're going to touch sabrina fulton. >> reporter: doug, you've got five of those six women on that jury are mothers and, you know, mothers know their children's voices under any circumstances. >> yep. no, i think you're right, arthel. look, if she's going to come in and identify the person screaming as her son, i think that may very well carry a lot of weight. but it's still at the end of the day, this case became very, very muddied up in terms of was it just a fistfight which would help the prosecutor say you can't kill anybody in a fistfight, or was it much more serious and grave? it seems like a deadlock, and that's why it's a hard case. arthel: doug and esther, thank

you very much for your expertise. >> my pleasure. rick: coming up, our nation's capital, security is tight there to say the least as folks prepare for a big independence day celebration. we're live on the national mall with all the fourth of july fun. plus, egypt ousts its first democratically-elected president sparking celebrations in the streets, but what's ahead for this critical middle east ally? we've got continuing coverage of this important and developing story straight ahead. mine was earned in djibouti, africa. 2004. vietnam in 1972. [ all ] fort benning, georgia in 1999. [ male announcer ] usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve military members, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

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♪ ♪ rick: not bad, right? those are fireworks lighting up the sky in denver, colorado, as thousands gather in many our nation's capital as well to celebrate america's 237th birthday. more than 3,000 performers will

be marching in today's independence day parade, and molly henneberg is live on the national mall to see some of the greatest fireworks later on. >> reporter: hi, rick. this is a major security event in d.c. because hundreds of thousands of people are going to come down to the national mall for lots of events today; the parade, the concert, the fireworks. and with all those events, there's a lot of security involved. law enforcement officers have been on the job since before the sun came up today, and they'll be here close to midnight tonight when everybody goes home. some security measures we see like the checkpoints where everybody's bags are searched, and some are hidden. but for anyone going to a july fourth event today anywhere in the country, especially if it's crowded, police have a safety suggestion. take a phone picture of your child before leaving home m -- home. >> in case for whatever reason you should become separated from your child, we all have the technology now on our phones to just go ahead and take a quick photo. that way it will assist us, meaning law enforcement,

emergency services, trying to locate your child, and we'll have a real photo; clothing, height, everything. >> reporter: joining me now is rebecca parkinson, she's coming down to enjoy the festivities. are you from d.c.? >> no, i'm from colorado. >> reporter: this is your first time here on the mall? >> yep. >> reporter: what do you expect the day to be like today? >> i'm going to eat with some friends, hang out and watch fire woirks, all the good stuff. >> reporter: and you were saying you're especially looking forward to the fireworks. >> i love fireworks. >> reporter: what does it mean as an american to be here for this event? >> it's amazing to be here in the nation's capital and be able to see all the people. >> reporter: rebecca parkinson, have fun today. thank you for joining us. some of the headliners at that big concert today include barry manilow and neil diamond. rick: molly, thank you so much. arthel: a fierce battle still

underway in arizona against a massive wildfire that killed 19 firefighters. authorities now say it is 45% contained, nearly 700 crews are fighting the flames on the ground. at least 129 homes and other structures have already been destroyed. meanwhile, a memorial service has been scheduled for the fallen firefighters. the community remembering them as heroes. will carr is live in prescott, arizona. will? >> reporter: and as you can imagine, this has been a pretty gut-wrenching fourth of july for this community. now, i'm standing right next to the prescott fire department. a memorial has been set up, and throughout the day and really throughout the past couple of days people walk up, they leave items here, they pay silent tributes to these firefighters. yesterday we actually saw a long procession to honor the 19 men who were killed on sunday. crews got into the vehicles that the hot shots had been using up until the day that they died, and they drove those vehicles all throughout the community.

at the same time, people offered moments of silence. trying to figure out exactly how this happened in the first place. they tell us that could take up to 60 days. take a listen. >> our goal is to, is to look at and figure out what happened and see how we can make sure this doesn't happen to other firefighters, how we can prevent it and how we can have lessons learned across this nation. >> reporter: authorities tell us that they're actually concerned the death toll could continue to rise, that's because last friday hundreds of homeowners evacuated the area. some decided to stay, and now it's unclear if actually they survived the fire. they tell us they hope to know in the next day or tw when they go door to door. there is some good news here, the fire's 45% contained, that's a huge jump from yesterday when it was only 8%. the area actually had a lot of rain throughout the area. at the same time, we're also seeing the community pull

together. we're seeing vigils, the funeral for these firefighters has now been set for next tuesday. the local college is offering scholarships to these families. while this continue pulls together and tries to press forward, people tell me they want to make a strong point that they'll never forget. back to you. arthel: will carr, thank you very much. rick: coming up, a stunning new report finding a rise in fatal overdoses from prescription painkillers. why the surge and who's at high risk, we'll talk with a doctor coming up next. and nsa leaker edward snowden running out of option toes, it seems. the latest on his whereabouts and the efforts to bring him to justice, but first, a message from one of our soldiers. >> hi, i'm with the 3rd u.s. infantry regiment of the old guard, i'd like to give a shout out to my family back home in memphis, tennessee, and wish everyone a happy independence day. ♪

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♪ ♪ rick: the cdc issuing a warning to doctors about prescribing painkillers to women. this after an alarming study shows that more middle-aged women die from overdoses than from cervical cancer or homicides. dr. natalie is a physician here in new york city, good to see you. happy holidays. this is a shocking statistic, that more women are dying of overdoses than cancer or homicide? >> yeah. this is a, these are pretty disturbing statistics, and i think there are very compelling medical and social arguments that have been made in terms of giving explanations for why this is the case. the head of the cdc has been sort of trying to analyze this data and can give us some explanations for why this could be happening. it does appear that women more than men are the ones who are more frequently being described chronic pain medicines. rick: why? >> well, you know what, certain pain conditions occur with

higher frequency in women. women are more likely to seek out care, and certainly health care in general and certainly for pain medicines and for pain conditions. women are also the higher recipients of prescriptions for anti-anxiety and anti-depressant medicines, and, unfortunately, the combination of all of those medicines can increase the frequency of overdose. one argument which was made which i find interesting is because women because they have lower body masses are more susceptible to overdose because the same dose in a woman and a man can make a big difference if the woman is quite quite small. rick: this just seems unacceptable. we can't have this. what do we do? >> there might be some social factors, socioeconomic factors. they say the highest group of women who appears to be vulnerable to this are white women living in rural areas where there's very, very high numbers of unemployment, these are single mothers who are raising children, they live in poverty and, unfortunately,

poverty can kind of promote this low self-esteem, and these women may be self-medicating with these medicines to make themselves feel better. more than anything i think reports like this should raise red flags for prescribing physicians to be thinking very carefully about their patients and who are they seeing in the office whom they're giving these prescriptions to, you know? we talked a little bit before the segment that a lot of these pain medicines really should be prescribed by pain management specialists, and they actually create contracts with patients. they need to come in on a monthly basis and give urine samples. rick: good warning. another story that caught our attention i want to ask you about has to do with a study out of harvard where a doctor there who treats hiv patients has said that in two of his patients, both of whom received bone marrow transplants, that their virus is now undetectable. >> this is very fascinating. from a basic science point of view, this is a very, very

interesting, you know, development that's come out. basically, he -- this physician had two hiv-positive patients who were hiv positive for years. they developed -- and they were doing quite well on their antiretroviral medicines. they each developed hodge kins lymphoma. they were treated and failed conventional medicine which means they had chemotherapy, they then underwent more as well as a bone marrow transplant. and what they found a few years later, this researcher said i want you to stop your antiretroviral medicines, and for one patient it's been roughly eight weeks and for one it's been about 15, 16 weeks, and they have undetectable virus. there is a naturally occurring process which is called graphs versus hosts where the donor bone marrow cells actually attack the recipient's cells. they're saying the donor cells may actually be killing off the remaining hiv-positive cells.

rick: big picture for people with hiv, what does this mean for, potentially, one day finding a cure? >> unfortunately, this is not a practical procedure, you know? this is incredibly costly, it's a very dangerous procedure. 15% of patients who undergo a bone marrow transplant succumb to the procedure because of infection and other complications. but, again, i think the driving, the driving point here is that from a basic science point of view. what can they learn about the mechanisms of how this virus is lying dormant in these patients' bodies and how these donor cells are attacking the virus. i think that the researchers can learn a lot about that in that regard. rick: two important stories, glad you were here to talk us through them. dr. nattily azar, happy holidays, enjoy the rest of your fourth. arthel? arthel: it was the turning point in the civil war. now 150 years since the first shots rang out on the battle of gettysburg, thousands taking part in a major reenactment. we are live on the battlefield. and before you fire up the

grill, pull out beach chairs, rick reichmuth is here with the holiday weekend weather. >> reporter: how's it going? arthel: it depends on what you're saying. >> reporter: yeah. some troubles ahead, we'll talk about it. arthel: okay. ♪ ♪ hey kevin...still eating chalk for heartburn? yeah... try new alka seltzer fruit chews. they work fast on heartburn and taste awesome. these are good. told ya! i'm feeling better already. [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews. enjoy the relief! i got my mom wrapped around my little finger. do you? yeah, i do. huh. i said i want honey nut cheerios uh huh. and she just totally caved. it's all about psychology buzz. psychology?

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arthel: welcome back. it is the largest event marking 150 years since the first shots rang out at gettysburg. a decisive battle in the civil war. 10,000 people now taking part in today's reenactment. doug mckelway is live in getties burg with more. high, doug. >> reporter: hawaii, arthel, great to see you. we just wrapped up the first reenactment, we're expecting another one at 6 p.m. tonight. this is almost like the woodstock of civil war reenactments. 10,000, as you said, many, many more spectators than that.

in fact, this morning we left our hotel at 8:00 in the morning for a five-mile drive out to this farm. it took two hours, traffic backed up for miles. the reenactment itself really something to see. in fact, if you focus away from the bleachers and from the thousands of speck spectators ht is not at all difficult to imagine yourself looking at something that would appear to be a very real civil war battle. in fact, there is a photographer here from smithsonian magazine who is using a camera from the 1920s. the photographs, the black and white photographs that he is producing here resemble uncannily something matthew brady might have produced during the civil war itself. what you don't see here and what is inauthentic is the lack of bloodshed, obviously, the horrific wounds, the absolute human torment that is associated with war and all wars. at the end of the day, these people get to hop into their cars or their suvs and drive home thanks in part to the

sacrifices of the people who fought real wars in the wars subsequent to that. again, another reenactment coming up at 6:00 tonight. looking very much forward to it. arthel: we will look forward to that report, doug mckelway, thank you very much. and happy fourth. >> reporter: absolutely. rick: coming up, hambergers, a huge part of our july fourth celebrations, but these cows want to eat more chicken, uh-huh, and they broke a world record. the moving story and many more -- bad puns -- courtesy of our writers when we come right back. arthel: yeah, really? good job, but not so much. ♪ cows like to sing and dance and shout. what do you think? [ mom ] yea, give it more sparkles. [ male announcer ] your kids make great things. so give them a tasty, wholesome snack that has eight grams of whole grain... and is now made with real strawberries and bananas. honey maid teddy grahams. two new flavors now made with real fruit.

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and because usaa's commitment to serve military members, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. rick: welcome back. meteorologist rick reichmuth is >> welcome back. rick, we are checking on the weather in arizona, your hometown, firefighters have their work cut out on them. all of the conditions are dry. the the last couple of days, we've had some pretty good showers, and eventually we'll get enough rain that the lightning strikes won't cause any more fires or certainly what you hope to see when you have the monsoon season. we're boeing to see more showers today -- going to see more showers today and tomorrow. dry out by sunday, but hopefully

we'll have some good containment on this fire. already at 45%, and that's certainly welcome news. very heavy rain across areas of the southeast. it's mostly just a washout for your fourth. down around ap lamp cola, they have seen some areas over 14 and saw inches of -- 15 inches of rain, and this moisture continues to be pulled up in this area. we're not going to see that change, so flood warnings in effect all across areas of the southeast. unfortunately, no big breaks here. the one benefit is this high pressure, it's moving a little part towards the west, so we're clearing things out across the big cities, places like d.c., philadelphia and new york, we're going to be looking pretty good for the fireworks. bev been so rainy across all the big cities, that's going to change at least for fireworks, so that's good news. rick: thank you, rick. arthel: all right. rick and rick, you know, we all know that today's the day we celebrate america's

independence, and what's shows it more than seeing how many hot dogs you can eat? yes, i'm talking about the nathan's hot dog-eating contest in coney island. here you go. finish. >> one minute and ten seconds! >> i would give it to this man, joey chestnut. he's about to string together seven straight mustard yellow belts. >> and you know what? look at him there. >> one minute! >> he'll put on about eight pounds during the competition, but he's quite a build. he's not a heavyset man by any means, and most of them are not. here we go, the final 45 seconds. >> three-quarters of a minute from history if he can keep it down, keep his poise. we will see history made here in coney island. michael jordan, they all have six titles. >> break through to the other side. >> the record is 68. he has 25 seconds to go. >> is it possible?

20 seconds. >> 19. >> 67, he's looking to match the record. he did that last year. 15 seconds to go. >> sonya did it the very end of her contest. >> 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 -- [cheers and applause] >> he did it! he passed the record, 69 hot dogs and buns! >> i could have done without any of that. i did not -- i would have had the best holiday if i hadn't seen any of that. >> with i didn't. i couldn't look. >> you want to catch it? [laughter] >> no. >> you missed him breaking his own record, joey chestnut? >> he still had about two hot dogs in his mouth. rick: did that count? we should mention that sonya thomas, also known as the black widow, she defended her title as well. congratulations the both of them and thanks for sharing that. >> reporter: not a bad way to make a living.

arthel: happy fourth. guess so. i'll eat dumb bow for my -- rick: okay. just when you thought the record was safe for the largest gathering of people dressed as cows, a herd of 470 people on the campus of george mason university moved into the top spot. the representative from the guinness book of world records was there to make the official call. of course, the event was organized by a group of local chick-fil-a restaurants, and they beat the previous record of 298 people dressed as cows. that record was set last year, so it seems like every year there are going to be more people dressed like cows in one spot. arthel: i could watch that. in the one spot? rick: it's a lot more fun than watching those hot dog eaters. arthel: that's going to do it for us.

happy fourth. >> a wild 24 hours that saw the nation's first democratically-elected president removed from office by the military there and then an interim leader was sworn in. welcome all of you to "america live," i'm jamie colby. happy fourth, gregg. gregg: i am gregg jarrett. i am jamie colby. >> and i'm gregg jarret. the crowds are smaller today in comporisson from yesterday. the fireworks bursting over the crowds and many men and women celebrating the army's removal of mohammed morsi. the nation's interim president telling the egyptians that