>> steve: well, it's shark week. tomorrow anna will feed some, plus it's game show week and actor george hamilton will join us. judge, great job. >> andrew: pleasure. >> gretchen: have a great day. see you tomorrow. bill: the news is breaking overseas now where americans are being evacuated at this hour. the state department urging all non-essential u.s. personnel to leave the country of yemen after a message was reportedly intercepted from al qaeda leader, al-zawahiri, reporting an imminent attack against americans or elsewhere. we start with the news. it is just breaking now. i'm bill hemmer in "america's newsroom." martha has time with the family. good to see you heather. >> i'm heather childers. nice to be back. pentagon officials say the broad evacuation effort is due to the threat that already prompted the closure of 19 u.s. embassies

across the middle east and after from. bill: greg palkot picks up the story live from london with the latest there what is the latest you're hearing on the ground in yemen, greg. >> reporter: latest from our contacts on the ground in yemen things are definitely getting serious there. fox news was told at least one c-117 u.s. military aircraft transported something like 90 non-essential staffers from the embassy. u.s. citizens outside the embassy told to leave immediately. we were on the phone with the embassy this morning. it certainly sounded like they were on high alert. we had been there, it is a well-secured embassy, but according to my contacts it is more secure today. additional tanks, armored personnel carriers, all around that place, u.s. surveillance aircraft overhead. u.k. also evacuating diplomatic personnel. it is due to the between the a rabe european and the

peninsula, talking about a possible terrorist strikes, a time to be, at the end of the muslim holy month of ramadan and that is this week and that is why all the attention is being paid right now especially to yemen, bill. bill: there was also more activity apparently reported from the leading terrorist in that country. what are you hearing on that, greg? >> reporter: loft activity. the u.s. is taking it to the terrorists. they're not waiting for a strike. we're told by our folks on the ground there was another u.s. drone strike against al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. four al qaeda militants were killed in the hotbed province of marib, east of sanaa. we've seen more activity just in the first six days of august than we have seen six different strikes. also, yemen taking it to the terrorists as well, posting in the past 24 hours a 25 most wanted terrorist list including some top officials, a former

guantanamo prisoner who is a saudi and is now the spiritual leader of that group. they're offering reward money for any information about these. again, a credible threat i am told by the people on the ground that we talked to in yemen, at least through the end of this week, maybe through the end of this month. you can see everybody taking it have l very seriously. bill: you've been in the country of yemen, greg. you've been in pakistan extensively as well. what we're being told, or being reported anyway, ayman al-zawahiri who we believe was hiding out in pakistan now was communicating with a terrorist leader in yemen and that is the reason all of this stuff started to fall. how much can we report on that aspect of the story? >> reporter: that was a communication in the past couple of weeks. it was sort of held underneath the radar due to fears that we were tipping the hands of the terrorists themselves. but now thinking is, the officials wanted to get this information out.

again, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula active in yemen. a real concern because one of the few al qaeda affiliates that struck outside of their area of operation, especially the 2009 failed bombing attempt, so-called underwear bomber on aircraft coming into detroit as well as ink cartridges being filled with explosives and sent to america as well a year after that. a dangerous group. they were being used by al qaeda central now, apparently, to act out and to strike out and that's why the concerns were there, bill. bill: thank you, greg palkot, london there reporting. despite the latest terror threat the white house still contending that the core of al qaeda has been diminished, knocked out. ahead ambassador john bolton on that and what he thinks the terror network's resurgence and what it means for our national security. that is coming up with the ambassador. >> after four years of waiting the trial of the man charged in

the 2009 fort hood massacre is about to begin. here is army psychiatrist, major nidal hasan as he looked that day when he admittedly killed 13 people and wounded dozens in an alleged shooting rampage. here is how he looks today as he prepares to represent himself and even cross-examine some of the wounded survivors. now we have casey stiegel there for us. he is live on the base at fort hood. he will join us in just a minute, bill. bill: in the meantime these are faces and names of the 13 that were killed that day in early november 2009. 12 soldiers, one civilian on your screen. some of the victims gunned down as they tried to charge the shooter. one 21-year-old army private was pregnant, serving -- returning home after serving in iraq. hasan was paralyzed from the waist down because after shooting by a police sergeant.

today he is still paralyzed from the waist down. >> physical hasan was charged with 13 counts of murder after the shooting rampage in november of 2009. now the following month attempted murder charges were tacked on. in april of 2010 hasan was released in from the military hospital in san antonio and transported to a prison in texas. he was finally arraigned in the summer of 2011. after a lot more legal manueverring it was finally decided that the court-martial would remain at fort hood on june 4th of this year the judge ruled that hasan can represent himself. through all of this, nidal hasan continued to receive his military paycheck. since the shooting he has been paid nearly $300,000. bill: that continues. this case hit a specific nerve too. in addition to those killed that day, the government refused to classify this as terrorism. instead they call it work place

violence. i spoke to a victim after the pentagon decision. he called it an outrage and a betrayal of him. the department of defense has classified this, the shooting, at fort hood, as a work place violence. do you agree with that? >> no. i think it's, i mean, it is a disgrace, i mean disgusting. >> to equate terrorism with work place violence, means that you're not confronting the problem. >> because the soldiers who were killed or wounded were not awarded purple hearts, their families are not eligible for the benefits given to soldiers wounded in combat. ahead we will speak with a former army sergeant who witnessed the shooting at fort hood as well as a former federal prosecutor about the start of the trial. bill: seven minutes past. talk about part-time america.

president obama hitting the road for yet another speech on the economy. while last week's jobs numbers show slight increase in hiring, most of those jobs are not full-time gigs. new numbers from the labor department tell the story of the of 980,000 new jobs added to the economy this year, 70% of those were part-time work. stuart varney, host of "varney & company" on the fox business network. my guest now. stuart, good morning to you. part-time america, is this the way we're headed? >> remember this is the government's own numbers used from the bureau of labor statistics quoting the household survey. this is where the government asks real people, about 3,000 on a regular basis what are you earning, where do you work, how do you work, what are you spending your money on? that is the household survey. that's where these numbers come from. that is what making the numb members so real because it is real people are being asked the questions. as you say, bill, 70% of the jobs created this calendar year,

part-time. we have record 28.2 million part-time workers in america. that number has never ever been higher. bill: these are service jobs right? people working in restaurants and probably hotels as well? >> primarilily so, yes. retail, hotel, leisure travel, that kind of area of employment. this is why the middle class is losing ground. the income simply isn't there. the number of hours required to put you into the middle class simply not there. bill: the amount of money americans are saving is astounding how low it is for so many. they say it will get worse because obamacare is right around the corner. explain that connection. >> well, when obamacare comes on, full-scale, anybody who employs more than 50 workers, for more than 30 hours a week each, has to pay for their health insurance. that means a lot of employers will be cutting the number of total staff below 50. and cutting the hours of those people who do work from over 30

to under 30 hours, so they don't have to pay for health care. that puts a whole new slew of people into the part-time category. that category will increase. bill: see you at 9:20, stuart, over on fbn. thank you. changing face of the american economy, just extraordinary going back to 2009 and the hole we have dug ourselves and some people trying to fight their way out of it. >> it is unfortunate. bill: the point he makes about the middle class, man, they need a lifeline, very soon. alex rodriguez betting a less than -- getting a less than warm welcome, you could say that, on the field in chicago. listen. >> number 13, alex rodriguez. bill: arod before the game went to the microphone for his reaction to his 200 plus game ban. we'll tell you what he had to say about that. >> does the recent resurgence of al qaeda go against the narrative from the white house about the core of the terrorist group being diminished? ambassador john bolton joins us.

bill: a warning for two major tv networks. serious consequences if you do not drop planned documentaries on hillary clinton. the head of the republican party issued that warning. he is here this morning to explain why. coming up. >> the problem we have now is we've got a bunch moderators in the business of making news at the expense of our party and our candidates. we can't do it anymore. it is not an establishment takeover. this is, using your brain and controlling the brand of your party and that is what we need to do. so... [ gasps ] these are sandra's "homemade" yummy, scrumptious bars. hmm? i just wanted you to eat more fiber. chewy, oatie, gooeyness... and fraudulence. i'm in deep, babe. you certainly are.

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heather: nidal hasan just brought into the court has for the start of his court-martial. casey stiegel live for us on the base of fort hood. casey, what can we expect today? >> reporter: heather, we were supposed to be live at the top of the hour here on "america's newsroom." but security is extremely tight on the fort hood post. all of the media was locked down

as major hasan was transported in and brought into the courtroom. so that's now why we're out here at the camera. this doesn't officially get underway, the opening statements, until just about 45 minutes from now. that is going to be at of course at 9:00 local time, 10:00 eastern. we understand that these opening statements are going to be fairly brief according to insiders that we've spoken to. the, of course prosecution, the government, is going to go first and then the defense. in this case major hasan himself, since he is serving as his own lawyer during these proceedings we're told that all of this is going to happen this morning. then there is going to be a break for lunch. and then this afternoon we'll get right into witnesses taking the stand. now there are 270 witnesses total on the list but it is not clear but how many are actually going to be called through the duration of this court-martial but they do include family members those who were killed on that today.

>> those who were hurt. and for many, this is opening some fresh wound of that november day, 2009, when that shooting took place, like this retired sergeant that i spoke to yesterday. >> did you think you were going to die that day? >> i thought that it was going to be pretty closest specially he started shooting at us. we got within, probably eight to 10 inches from being shot. >> reporter: of course adding insult to injury the federal government classified what happened here as work place violence and not an act of terrorism, and that is something a lot of the victims hope get overturned especially if there's a conviction here, heather. heather: casey, do we know what defense major hasan is planning to defense? >> reporter: you know we really don't. what is interesting he has admitted that he was the shooter on that day. he has not denied that whatsoever. remember, he tried using the defense of others argument, saying that he killed u.s.

soldiers here because they were being deployed to afghanistan and in turn, he was doing so to protect the taliban in afghanistan but the judge said that he could not use that defense. she is reminded him all along he can not refer to himself as the shooter. again he has standby counsel to help him with procedural matters. clearly he is not an attorney. it will be interesting to see how he handles himself through this whole court-martial, heather. heather: casey stiegel live for us, thank you. bill: at the moment americans are being evacuated out of the country of yemen as questions are being raised about the state of resurgence of al qaeda. the white house claims the terror group has been gutted from the core. this is from yesterday, less than 24 hours before those evacuations began. >> we made clear as i said earlier as al qaeda core has been diminished through the efforts of the united states and

our allies, affiliate organizations including in particular al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, have strengthened and we have here, in washington identified aqap as a particularly dangerous threat for some time now. bill: ambassador john bolton with me now, former u.s. ambassador to the u.n. and a fox news contributor. good morning to you and welcome back here. is jay carney splitting hairs there, is the administration splitting hairs? >> it's a fantasy story. al qaeda central control over its branch and affiliates has always ebbed and flowed depending on the local circumstances. after we overthrew the taliban in afghanistan 2001, central control ebbed as al qaeda tried to regroup. it has always gone up and down. the administration for four 1/2 years has tried to slice and dice defining al qaeda that is

this little shriller hanging out in waziristan along the afghan-pakistan border that has always been an mischaracterization. what we're seeing is a demonstration of reassertion of some measure of central control. it is a complete refutation of the administration's storyline. bill: what do you make of an evacuation of americans that's underway? what would that say about our ability to defend in our current strategy against said group? >> well i think the closures of the embassies and consulates, the worldwide travel warning to all american citizens, the step of withdrawing non-essential personnel from yemen is a decision that we shouldn't second-guess. we're not playing checkers here. we've got lives at stake. i think it is something that should be done. but that's one level of the issue. the second level is, why are we in this situation? why are we so weak? why are we so vulnerable?

and i think the answer to that question comes from the administration's misguided view, its incorrect view terrorism is not engaged in a war against us. that it is a law enforcement matt localized and can be dealt with by fbi agents and not the military. by failing to retaliate for the attack on benghazi last sent the 11th. really completely misunderstanding the nature of the terrorist threat and the way to deal with it. bill: what you're suggesting that the comprehensive strategy is not in place to deal with it long term? do we react like this every time it pops up? where you go into emba sir, all non-essential personnel you have to get out of the country, that is the only way to keep you safe. that doesn't seem rational? >> it is not rational but it stems very directly from the administration's view we are not engaged in a global war on terror. once you start with that proposition, these individual acts we're concerned about like the threat we're facing now is just a local circumstance. you know, we should probably

send the fbi in to find out what is going on. we did this in yemen 15 years ago when the uss cole was attacked. we treated it in the clinton administration as criminal matter. the fbi came in to investigate. our own state department blocked the investigation and as a consequence of treating that and other terrorist attacks the wrong way we face first september 11th, on 2001. we're at war. if we don't treat it as war we will lose. bill: john bolton thank you. >>hank you. bill: talk again this week. appreciate it. heather? heather: still to come a honeymoon ending in tragedy after a driver goes on a rampage at a popular boardwalk, running the new bride over. now we'll have reaction from the family. bill: also did you see this? now playing third base for the new york yankees, that is alex rodriguez. the harsh welcome home in chicago for a-rod and his reaction for the suspension for steroids. >> support i've gotten is incredible. it has been the toughest fight

of my life. not by any means am i out of the woods. this is probably just phase two just starting. it will not get easier. it will probably get harder. medicine and packages, yet they're closing thousands of offices, slashing service and want to layoff over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains $5 billion a year from post office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts. congress created this problem, and congress can fix it.

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bill: a beauty queen busted for making bombs. kendra gill, three friend, facing charges after admitting to making homemade bombs with plastic bottles. this is in utah. the police say the group was driving around late friday night, tossing makeshift explosives at people and homes 2349 neighborhood. >> this goes well beyond teenage prank. it is a prank even if it is for fun. these are very serious charges. these are very serious devices. this is not something you want to be involved in. bill: gill was crowned miss riverton in june. she was set to compete in miss utah pageant.

we'll see whether or not that happens. heather: we'll see. a harsh welcome back for a player once considered among the best in baseball. >> number 13, alex rodriguez. [booing] >> the new york yankees alex rodriguez booed in his first game back in the majors after getting slapped with one of the toughest penalties in league history. for his allege involvement in a doping scandal and now a-rod is appealing. adam housley is live for us in our west coast bureau with the latest. so adam, what is the latest on the appeal? >> reporter: well, quite a scene yesterday in chicago, that's for sure. boos really resounded through the stadium every time a-rod came to the plate. you have to hear that again. a-rod walking up to the plate. the stadium is packed. he has been out of the game since last fall. two hip surgeries, suspended from baseball theoretically for

next 211 games. this is what he comes back at the plate. take a listen. [booing] what a resounding set of boos. there were a splattering of cheers in the crowd but obviously a-rod not very welcome yesterday in chicago. as for the appeal process, that is what allows him to play right now. he has appealed the process, the suspension the league handed down which is for the rest of this season, post-season and all of next season and post-season that would cost him more than $30 million. an arbitrator will hear the case within the next 10 days and could rule quickly within 20 days following the hearing. we've been told by a couple legal experts this could draw out until the end of the season which means alex rodriguez could potentially play until the end of the season before an arbitrator would rule.

yesterday deflected questions and would not specifically answer whether or not he had ever taken peds. he talked specifically about his rehab process. take a listen. >> nothing about it has been easy. all of it has been challenging. i'm sure there have been mistakes made along the way. we're here now. i'm a human being. i have had two hip surgeries. i have had two knee surgeries. i'm fighting for my life. i have to defend myself. if i don't defend myself no one else will. >> reporter: he was talking also, heather, how he wanted to get back in the game to help his teammates out. the yankees definitely need a third baseman as they try to get back in the pennant race. he went 1-4. on his first at-bat he muscle ad bloop single into left field. heather: that was in chicago. he could justify it in his head. the fans booing. we'll see what happens when he comes back to new york. what happens next and in terms of the fans how are they reacting? >> reporter: look at twitter yesterday.

look at reaction from the stadium. a lot of fans still got autographs. a lost fans even as booing were using phones and cameras to take pictures. he is still a big draw. obviously the yankees need someone to hit at third base. that is what they haven't had this year. the fans for the most part not to be accepting from him if you listen to the boos. a lot of yankees fans are upset there was splattering of cheers as well. on social media, people are saying innocent until proven guilty type of thing. a mixed reaction at best. really most fans and most people that follow baseball seem to be pretty upset he is back in the game. take a listen to one yankee fan in fact. >> why would an individual are are been found guilty of using steroids who admitted to it fall back in the same category knowing that mlb is looking at him closely? i think only an idiot would do that. >> reporter: only candid fans come from new york, heather. heather: that is true. adam housley, thank you.

bill: home against detroit on friday night. we'll see how yankees fans react word from mike emanuel on president george bush, 43 now. apparently he had a procedure yesterday in dallas. this was a statement put out moments ago, reading now, during president george w. bush's examination in the cooper clinic in dallas, a blockage discovered in the an artery in his heart. it continues, at the recommendation of his doctors, president bush agreed to have a extent placed to open the blockage. the procedure was performed successfully this morning without complication at texas health presbyterian hospital, dated august 6th. that would be this morning. president bush is in high spirits and eager to return home tomorrow to resume his normal schedule on thursday. he is grateful to the skilled medical professionals who cared for him. he thanks has family, friends and fellow citizens for their prayers and well-wishers. he encourages us all to get regular checkups end quote. the procedure went this morning

apparently without a hitch. a extent was placed inside of his heart or near his heart to remove any of this blockage discovered in the artery of his heart. let's hope for a good recovery. this is a man physically you know, very active all the time. even, rides his bike all the time up and down the hot hills of central texas. so our best to him. heather: yeah, wish him well. shock and horrorrecord in a small american town why a man walks into a council meeting and opens fire. the hero who stopped him from killing more. bill:ed leader of the republican party giving two major television networks an ultimatum. the chairman of the rnc joins us next what the networks must do with regard to hillary clinton or else. >> i think this is about time our party stand up and protects the party and our candidates from networks not in the business of promoting our party. they're not not business of promoting our candidates. they're not in the business of doing anything but promoting the

democratic party. i'm not going to sit around and watch this happen anymore. humans. even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why at liberty mutual insurance, to policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what ee comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

heather: welcome back. horror at at town council meeting. three people dead after a gunman with a grudge opened fire but the bloodshed could have been much worse if not for the quick thinking of town officials, one, giving aid to one of the wounded. this happened in the tiny community of sail letters berg in northeast pennsylvania. rick leventhal live outside the

building where it happened. rick, tell us what went down last night. >> reporter: police identified the suspect at 59-year-old rokcne newly. he only live as mile. he parked in the parking lot. he took a long gun out of his vehicle and began firing as he approached vehicle. you can see one of the front windows that was blown out. he walked inside the building an continued to fire, as the 15 to, 18 people inside dove for cover. he came back outside and dropped his lung gun and grab ad pistol and began firing more rounds until a town supervisor, bernie coasten and another man jumped shooter and wounded himself at least once with his own weapon. >> he was subsequently tackled and brought to the ground by two individuals in the township building. he was restrained until troopers arrived and took him into custody. >> reporter: by the time police

arrived two victims were dead apparently another town supervisor. another died at the hospital and three more are wounded including one critically, heather. heather: rick, what do we know about the motive? >> reporter: rockne newell had been battling with the town for years over conditions of his property described as dip a lap dated and ramshackled. police issued a warrant and so the road is blocked off. his property is filled with junk, a old camper and garage ready to collapse. four years ago responding to complaints from neighbors, officials found buckets filled with feces because newell could not afford septic fees. he was toiled to vacate the property and living out of his car. he told a local reporter if i lose this property i have nowhere else to go. what they have been doing to me for so long is wrong. he was treated for his wound and is in a local jail and will be arraigned via videoconference sometime today. heather: thank you, rick.

bill? bill: heather, the head of the republican party now threatening to cut out both cnn an nbc from republican debates unless the networks agree to pull the plug on several upcoming hillary clinton documentaries. will that happen? rnc chairman reasons priebus is with me right now. he issued the threat yesterday. my guest out of milwaukee, from his home state of wisconsin. reasons, good morning to you. >> hey, bill. bill: ha any reaction since you leveled the threat over boycott of debates yet. >> we heard from cnn, he their response, why don't you wait until see what the movie is like before you start believing this is going to be great for hillary clinton. kind of, curious response, you know, wait until the damage is done and then respond. the reality it doesn't matter what the movie, whether it is positive, negative, in between. as you know, presidential elections are huge cultural votes and when you have media

colluding with a potential front-runner on the democratic side of the aisle or the democratic party or doing it just to be helpful, whatever the reason is, it creates the cult of personality. this is what goes on here with the mainstream media. they build up the democratic party in a particular candidate and then what happens is, it becomes larger than life, the wave gets bigger as it strikes the shower and we're sitting around having these same people depose our candidates at our presidential debates. all i'm saying it is insanity. bill: let me get to that. cnn said, you referred to the statement. this is part of it now. instead of making premature decisions about a project in the very early stages of development and months from completion we would encourage the members of the republican national committee, meaning you, to reserve judgment until they know more. should they decide not to participate in debates on cnn we would find it curious as limiting their debate participation seems to be the

ultimate disservice to voters. i just want you to react to that. what cnn is saying, chill out for now. >> right. and as i said, it doesn't matter what the movie is like, whether it is critical or not much the fact is they're building up this personality. they're putting it into american culture. they're spending of millions of dollars doing it. now if they want to air our debates, i don't care if they want to air it. they will not have anything to do with them. they're not going to moderate our candidates and slice and dice our party in front of the entire country. look, we had 23 debates last time. if we have a few less without moderators that are doing the bidding of the democratic party, it is fine with me. bill: you made that point last night with sean. you wonder too, what the democrats who want the nomination, how they would feel too if indeed these projects go forward on nbc and cnn you say you're looking at the debate

calendar and you're also going to put a hold on who the moderators of the debates are. you think you were burned in 2012? >> i think that we made, or at least the candidates made a big mistake in raising their hand for every two hour debate offered absolutely. i think 23 debates is ridiculous. but, you know, but the second thing that is ridiculous is allowing moderators who are not serving the best interests of the candidates in the party, to actually be the people deposing our people. and think that is totally wrong and i think it is incumbent on the republican party today, to get its act together, put a reasonable debate calendar together, with the moderators that are not trying to kill us. bill: understood but as based on your statement yesterday, and the interview you did last night you're serious about this boycott, right? if cnn goes ahead and airs this documentary, if nbc does a

four-part miniseries on hillary clinton you say you will stand by your word and not allow either network to hold a primary debate that features what could be the eventual nominee for the republican ticket? >> that's right. and which will do it by tying the nomination for the presidency to the debate calendar itself. and that is how you will do it. it can be done. bill: reasons priebus, we'll see what reaction you get coming soon. we have reince priebus there out of milwaukee. we gave you this word, president bush has had a extent placed near his heart after a blockage was found yesterday at a clinic dallas, texas, the cooper clinic. a blockage was discovered in an artery in his heart of. after a recommendation from doctors he agreed to have a extent placed to open that blockage.

apparently the procedure finish without complications. we'll talk to marc siegel and other doctors and get them on the air to talk about how common the procedure is and what a patient like seemingly healthy president would expect to -- heather: 67 years old. hopefully discharged wednesday. bill: you see these little stents. they can save a person's life if you catch it in time. in this case they did. we'll get practical knowledge coming up from the good doctor. heather: we'll wait for that. meantime obamacare not winning popularity contests in some polls these days but remember the firestorm when it was just a bill? it paid big political dividends for republicans back in the 2010 midterms. so, will the push to defund it do the same for the gop next year? we debate as we take a look back. >> you want to be let out of here? you're welcome to go. now wait a minute, wait a minute, now wait a minute, now wait a minute. , wait a minute.

wait a minute.

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heather: well the furor over obamacare when it was just a bill triggered fiery town halls four summers ago. remember this? >> we're going to pay more taxes because of you, sir. >> so what makes you think the government could run a new health care program? [cheers and applause] [shouting] >> stay out of my business. stay out of my health care. >> the whole bill needs to be started over and concentrate on those things that are not going to cost anything. >> you're getting ready to sign a check on the backs of the american people without checking the bank account and i'm afraid you will bounce another check. >> i, as a 20-year-old person will have to deal with this for the rest of my life. and i will have to pay for this. heather: those town halls helped pave the way for the republican

takeover of the house in 2010 and one of the biggest landslides in decades. so could we see the same thing in the midterms next year? bob beckel, former democratic campaign manager and co-host of "the five." mary catherine ham, editor-at-large for hotair.com and a fox news contributor join us. thank you for joining us. >> pleasure, heather. heather: four years ago, august town hall meetings turned into that fistfights, shouting matches, and arrests. mary catherine, will it be deja vu all over again this august? >> i don't know if you will see exactly the same tone. i think critics will certainly be out and ready to discuss this with congresspeople and the question for me i think is that beyond the critics you have a whole new group of people who are very, very concerned about what's going on here. many people in polling who are independents, who are suburban women, key demographics for the democratic party, who are going, i think i will be worse off under this bill. to get those sort of more

poignant questions might be interesting and republicans have opportunity to reach out to the people who come an express those concerns which are very real. frankly the stuff those people were yelling about on the video, a lot of them have come true. that's why people are are concerned. heather: talk about some of the polling numbers as i go to you, bob. voters clearly not happy with the affordable care act. according to the latest numbers we have, almost half of the americans, 47%, now say that the law overhauling the nation's health system is bad. it is a bad idea, compared to 34% who call it a good idea. on top of that, more than half of working class whites say it's a bad idea. 48%, and perhaps this is telling of those currently without health insurance say it's a bad idea. those are the very people who are supposed to gain the most from it, bob. >> well, first of all, comment on the town hall meetings. you can't stage things twice and hope to get the same outcome, so i don't think there will be there. >> they weren't staged. because people were not

actually -- it was all staged you know it and i know it. >> it was so staged. >> here is the problem with this thing the obama administration let the enemies of health care reform define it for them. they got way out in front on it. and so the message game of trying to catch up here that obama is trying to do now in this administration may be too little too late. but the fact is you can't do away with this by it is now law and it will not got everyturned. the question is can it be fixed a little bit. >> a little bit. heather: can't do away with it. seem to avoided. waivers for businesses. waivers for unions. delay for employer mandate. now count congress among those who don't have to buy into it. we'll see what happens. thank you both for joining us. >> you're very welcome. bill: all right. bob doesn't want to take that back. heather: got to cut it short a little bit today. bill: space history with one year on mars, what nasa's rover is doing today. come over, little "rover."

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bill: one earth year on mars. nasa's rover "curiosity," with one year on the red planet. what a ride it has been. kure as at this's mission hasn't stopped. steve, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, bill, probably the first main achievement getting kure i don't see at this on the surface of the mars. coming in 13 miles an hour. mobile lab which costs $2.5 billion and about the size after car, actually landed solvely in exactly the right

spot more than 34 million miles where it began. major achievement in the study came eight months in digging through soil and rock samples they uncovered evidence of a streambed. so there could have been the basis for life on mars, more than 2 billion years ago. microbes perhaps in the streambed. major achievements already in years one for this rover, bill. bill: what is their sense how much longer this thing lasts? first you have to get touchdown. you have got to get a signal back. enough to keep it operating. they have done that so well, better than ever, steve. >> reporter: it has really been amazing. cure as at this is expected to go another year -- cure i don't see citi. it is on. nasa plans to send another spacecraft up in november to analyze the atmosphere around mars. all this robotic exploration is in preparation for haven'tal

manned flights to mars. as nasa said we have what's on the ground now. boots on the ground later bill. bill: great stuff. thank you, steve. steve harrigan, in miami on mars. heather. heather: manned flights to mars. exciting stuff. americans in yemen advised to leave immediately. warnings of an extremely high security threat level. we'll get reaction from the white house on our top story. bill: he opened fire in fort hood, killing 13 on post. four years later, armey major nidal hasan will face justice today. we'll talk with a former sergeant who lived through the shooting about the sta trial the victims have waited four years to see. >> you heard him yell, a la akbar? >> uh-huh. bill: you are sure of that? >> 100%. yep, and no angry bears.

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the plans go with us. anywhere in the country. i like that. you know what else? unitedhealthcare insurance company has years and years of experience. what do you say? ♪ i'm in. [ male announcer ] join the millions already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp. remember, all medicare supplement plans help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay and could really save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. you'll be able to choose your own doctor or hospital as long as they accept medicare patients. and with these plans, there could be low or no copays. you do your push-ups today? prepare to be amazed. [ male announcer ] don't wait. call today to request your free decision guide and find the aarp medicare supplement plan to go the distance with you. go long. bill: fox news alert. starting a whole new hour here. the court-martial for major nidal hasan is now officially

underway. four years now since the massacre at fort hood. hasan representing himself against 13 counts of murder and 32 charges of attempted murder. that decision will put the accused shooter face-to-face with some of the survivors from that horrific day on post in texas. minutes from now we'll talk to a former sergeant who witnessed the rampage and helped save many lives that day. his story coming up live here inside "america's newsroom." fox news alert. this is breaking news. we get details on terror chatter forcing evacuations and embassy shutdowns. there are americans in yemen now being told to get out. an active evacuation is said to be underway. whole new hour here. i'm bill hemmer. good morning to you at home. heather, how are you? heather: nice to be here. i'm heather childers in for martha maccallum. the state department is urging all non-essential personnel to leave yemen after a message was reportedly intercepted from al qaeda about a potential attack. this comes as the agency shuts

down embassies and consulates in 19 cities in the middle east and africa for the rest of the week. >> clearly aqap is the most active terrorist organization there and has been the most operationally active affiliate of al qaeda core, but beyond that i'm not going to get into the details about the intelligence about who might behind this threat. heather: senior white house foreign affairs correspondent wendell goler is live for us at the white house. wendell, what are we hearing about what specifically triggered the embassy closures? >> reporter: heather, we're hearing it was a call from ayman al-zawahiri, the man who replaced usama bin laden, the leader of the al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. the state department today actually reduced number of emergency personnel at the embassy in sanaa. the president said al qaeda is on the run but the his aides don't make the same claim about aqap.

>> as al qaeda core has been diminished through the efforts of the united states and our allies, affiliate organizations including in particular al qaeda in the arabian peninsula have strengthened and, we have here in washington identified aqap as a particularly dangerous threat for some kind now. >> reporter: there were four drone strikes against aqap fighters in the past two weeks including one that killed four people today. heather? heather: didn't the president recently talk about making gains actually against the yemeni al qaeda groups? >> reporter: just last week the president met with yemeni president in the oval office and he seemed to give his blessings to the drone strikes against aqap. there had been a strike that very day. hadi said he was happy to join the fight against the terrorist group because it chased tourists

out of yemen and brought oil exploration this to a halt. president obama suggested aqap was on the defensive. >> because of some of the very effective military reforms that president hadi initiated when he came into this office, what we've seen is al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, or aqap, moved back out of territories that it was controlling. >> reporter: the very next day the u.s. announced it would close 21 installations in 17 countries across north africa and the middle east because of a threat emanating from or directing at the a rabe european peninsula. 19 of those installations remain closed of the heather? heather: wendell goler reporting live for us. thank you for the latest. some background for you on past attacks on the u.s. embassy in yemen which has closed several times actually because of terror threats. in march of 2003, two people were shot dead, dozens were

injured when police clashed with demonstrators trying to storm the embassy. then sent 2008, gunmen in two vehicles packed with explosives attacked the u.s. embassy killing 18 people. al qaeda claimed responsibility. and just last sent, hundreds of yemeni demonstrators stormed the u.s. embassy compound in sanaa. that was the same week as the attack on our consulate in benghazi. bill: there is breaking news out of dallas. last hour we brought you this news. president bush has had a extent placed in his -- stent was placed in his heart after blockage was found there. good morning, doctor. >> good morning bill. bill: this is healthy guy. he was exercising all the time. that was a priority when he ran, literally jogging and that was a priority when he biked which is his main activity now. the procedure itself however is fairly common.

tell us what you know. >> first of all, bill, i want to reassure america about this i just interviewed president bush two months ago. he was in extraordinary health, after biking over 60 miles over three days. i interviewed him, he wasn't even short of breath. that is very significant for his heart being in very good shape. now this procedure we're talking about, a cardiac stent is done in over a million people in the united states every year. what is it? actually, if there's a blockage in one of the three main arteries feeding the hard, the most common one is on the front of the heart. you take a catheter, feed it up through a artery in the groin. dial late the artery that is blocked. literally like a balloon and feed a very, very tiny stent into, a metal stent into that area which is blocked. you open it just as we're showing here and then you use a drug to keep it open. over 80% of the time it will stay open long term. then patient who is have this, will stay on aspirin. they will stay on a drug called plavix for at least a year and

stay on cholesterol lowering drugs, whether they have high cholesterol or not. my prediction for president bush he will make a very speedy recovery and be back to normal activity. this was found in a routine examination, bill. bill: they're saying he should be back at work on thursday, two days from now. i have a number about questions. let's go through them quickly. >> okay. bill: otherwise healthy person would he feel anything before he went to this clinic dallas, or not necessarily so? >> not always. it can be a very vague symptom. he can feel a little bit of nausea or short of breath. tingling in his arm or chest page or may have not felt anything at you will. they may have seen something on ekg or having routine post-traumatic stress disorder testing. you can pick this up on a post-traumatic stress disorder test. someone as active as him might go for post-traumatic stress disorder test. bill: seemed like sudden. this maybe developed overnight. does that happen with people. >> it has happened with people. we saw that with president clinton. this is more or less something developing over time. this is also really common.

you can have blockages. a lot of people over the age of 50, president bush is more like under 50 in terms of his shape, but over the age of 50 you have a blockage building up over years until it gets to a critical point. then you start to have symptoms. bill: there are millions of americans taking an aspirin a day. does that help? is that necessary? is that not enough? >> bill, i'm really glad you brought that up. aspirin a day is extremely important for people over the age of 50 with cardiac risk factors providing a physician is in the loop on that. it won't prevent a blockage from occurring but prevent a heart attack occurring with someone who has a blockage and it is very, very good for that. bill: not specifically to president bush now but to anyone watching this, what would be the signal for them? would they feel chest pains? would think be light-headed? would they be short of breath or none of that? >> president bush, one thing he did tell tell me would bring out i was former smoker and hasn't smoked in many, many years. any former smokers, anyone with

cardiac risk factors should be seen regularly by your physician. let us look, let us check and ask you the certain questions because the vague symptom you have may not be alerting you but it will alert us. you should have a regular checkup by your doctor at least every six months to a year if you have cardiac risk factors. bill: we have a picture of a stent. is that made of steel? what is the come boss isn't. >> it used to be something called a bare metal stent. now they're making it more out of an alloy. it is getting more advanced. it sometimes sets off airports. they take the stent and clothe it with a drug that prevents clots from forming. you have to watch very carefully in the few months afterwards. the results are positive for these stents. they're mir kill medicine. bill: is it invasive doctor, or not invasive, you would be back to work in two days? >> i don't consider it invasive. it's a catheter and totally would be back at work. i think president bush is a role

model for america's fitness. bill: at the end of the statement he encourages us all to get a regular checkup. as a doctor you love to hear that. >> i absolutely agree. i talked to his personal physician recently, one of them, who said he is in excellent health. bill: mark segal in studio. heather: a fast moving wildfire forcing the evacuation of hundreds of homes. this happening in southern california. the u.s. forest service says that the fire started in the cleveland national forest yesterday. it has already scorched about 1500-acres. will carr is live for us in los angeles with more. will, what are residents saying? >> reporter: hi, heather. some residents yesterday say they saw a wall of flames racing towards their homes. if you take a look at some of the video it is easy to understand why exactly they would say that. this fire started surging yesterday afternoon. you can see flames shooting up into the air right now, coming very close to homes in the lake elsinore area. to give you an idea, that is inland southern california.

so far two communities, about 100 homes, continue to be evacuated. the fire has burned about 1500-acres. it has not burned any structures yet but residents say, they're not taking any chances. >> within 15 minutes it was over the ridge and down the hill. >> you were thinking maybe it is time to go? >> yeah, definitely. for me, it is important to be safe. get out safe. for him it is important to save the house. >> reporter: so far fire crews do not any containment on this fire and they tell us they're worried about spot fires throughout the area today. so something they are certainly going to try to keep tabs on. heather: so no containment. do firefighters expect to get any help from the weather today possibly? >> reporter: heather, that is actually the good news. they're supposed to have fair conditions. it is supposed to be about 93 degrees. winds are not suppose to be that strong. residents are on edge. this area had a large fire couple weeks ago. that was the mountain fire. it burned a half dozen homes. it is very dry in that area.

fire crews are asking people to be very vigilant in the area. the last thing they want while continuing to battle this latest fire for somehow another fire to break out and then have to send crews in another direction. heather. heather: will carr, live from los angeles. thank you. bill: 11 minutes past the hour now. a lot of moving parts. we'll move on to this now. a bizarre attack by a python, taking the lives of these two little boys. wait until you hear how the reptile got out of its cage. heather: that is an awful story. serious allegations against the u.s. army. listen to this. their apparent relationship to contractors that have ties to al qaeda. bill: four years after a mass shooting at a military post in texas. the court-martial for major nidal hasan is officially underway. what can we see play out here. meanwhile the survivors remembering the fateful day as painful as it is. you heard him el al law talk bar.

>> uh-huh. bill: are you sure of that? >> 100%. >> somebody cried out he is coming around the corner with a gun. he is shooting and killing people. i sat there, helpless, helpless, waiting for the person to come in and finish the job.

bill: we have some breaking news on a case that's been four years in the making now, just crossing the associated press wires. prosecutors in the fort hood trial tells the jury that nidal hasan planned to kill, quote, as many soldiers as he could. he is charged with the counts of 13 murders as well as 32 counts of attempted murder in the 2009 shooting rampage. some of those survivors will be facing the accused gunman again, from the witness stand. hasan's representing himself. he is paralyzed from the waist down. former sergeant howard way was on fort hood the day of the attack. he helped get a lot of people to safety on post there. emory mcavoy, a former

prosecutor. they're both with me now. sergeant, i can't imagine how tough this day is. how does this day feel like for you that you were shot several times as you were helping a woman and others get to safety? >> well this is, four years of long-awaited justice and of course this is just the beginning. you know, we've had delay after delay after delay regarding this case, whether it is the shaving of the beard or changing attorneys, four or five times. just to see this day come around is, is, it's well, it's unbelievable really. bill: i've talked to some of the survivors and they share similar thoughts too. i mean just waiting, all the stops and starts they have had now for four years running and having to reflect on that day. again they live the nightmare today. foxnews.com has a number of stories on this today including its piece from his sanity hearing in 2010.

it reads in part, i'm on the wrong side. i am muslim first. i have to help my muslim brothers overseas. the wars in iraq and afghanistan are wars against islam. sir, have you heard that statement from him yet? >> i have heard that through other media sources and, you know, the truth of the matter is, i think that just goes to further show the american people and all the victims especially that this indeed was a terroristic attack on u.s. citizens and civilians and soldiers. bill: yeah. in october of 2012 we found out it was soa, signed, soldier of allah. the government characterizes this as work place violence, not terrorism. what do you call it? >> i would call that statement a lie. that is based upon the things that the accused has said over and over again, even citing the piece that you just spoke about.

i mean it's apparent this was an attack on all the american soldiers here. the people that support and defend our freed tops every day to include myself, and the other civilians that were there at the soldiers readiness processing center that day. bill: sergeant, stand by one moment. anne ma rye mcavoy is with me right now. i is paralyzed from the waist down. he is representing himself. he dismissed all his attorneys. when you hear statement like that is there defense here? >> there really isn't. he is not trying to present a defense. red dilly admits and openly and happily seems to admit that he did this. he says he did it but he says he was justified in doing it. and he is not claiming self-defense, what we would normally think as far as justification. what he wanted to claim he is somehow protecting taliban fighters in afghanistan. the judge already ruled he can not do that but he may try to raise that issue any way even though the judge already blocked him. a lot will depend how much

leeway the judge gives him to say what he wants to say. he has got a bully pulpit. that is what he is going to do. bill: he is practically on stage during this trial. >> he is. bill: does he want to live or does he want to die? >> i don't think he really cares. seems at some point he was willing to plead guilty. he was willing to plead guilty to the actual offenses he is charged with, premeditated murder, which carries a penalty of execution but the judge wouldn't allow it, saying we have to have a trial. we can't have you plead to something where you will be executed. so, he gets his reward after death. he will be a hero. bill: in a case like, this is your world, how high is the potential for this being a circus? >> very big. it depends how the judge handles it. it seems she is trying to rein him in little bit already by blocking him from saying this he was doing this to defend the taliban in afghanistan. the reality there is also a chance for appeal, and some

decisions by military tribunals get reversed. they will try to do this to have him have the ability to present all the evidence he wants to present within reason but it is very difficult. you have a man sitting in a wheelchair who will be questioning people he shot? this is a very volatile, very difficult situation and it is going to be a real challenge for this judge to keep it under control and obviously every word is going to be followed worldwide, including by jihaddists. bill: i agree. anne ma rye mack coy, thank you for your. sergeant, good luck going through this one. heather. >> yes, sir. >> a tragic story of two young children losing their lives. why police say a python from a pet stories to blame. the shocking details up next. bill: also, chilly reception. could you say that, huh? heather: just a little. bill: a-rod taking the field, at season debut said last night before the game. what he is saying about his record suspension delivered by

major league baseball as the legends of that game react and speak out as well. tommy. >> i appreciate what the commissioner's doing. he is doing everything in his power to get this sport clean, to everything. and he is going to do it until, it becomes time for him to leave. but, anybody that gets involved in illegal drugs, it should be penalized for it. yes. is this the thing you gave my husband? well, yeah, yes. the "name your price" tool. you tell us the price you want to pay, and we give you a range of options to choose from. careful, though -- that kind of power can go to your head. that explains a lot. yo, buddy! i got this. gimme one, gimme one, gimme one! the power of the "name your price" tool only from progressive.

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bill: the home where three cleveland women were hold captive for more than a decade will be torn down. demolition is expected to get underway tomorrow morning in fact. it is not clear if there are plans to build anything else on the site. they talked about a park or memorial. the former owner, 53-year-old ariel castro, is now serving a life sentence with no chance of

parole after pleading guilty last week to hundreds of charges of kidnapping and rape. heather: time now for this horrifying story for you out canada where police say a python escaped from an exotic pet store and killed these two young boys were asleep in upstairs apartment. david lee miller live for news new york with more details on the story. david, the first obvious question how did the snake get loose? >> reporter: heather the owner of the pet store said the snake, an african rock python, slithered out of its enclosure through a venttation system. this has shocked the down in new brunswick where the store, reptile ocean is located. the snake made its way to an apartment above the pet store where the owner lived with his son and where five-year-old noah and 7-year-old connor were visiting. it is believe the two brothers were strangled by the snake. in interview with the canadian

television station the president store owner was described as vicious and never handled by anyone except during maintenance. after discovering bottomed disof two boys, he wanted the snake to be killed. it is in the custody of investigators. an autopsy of the two boys scheduled to take place later today. heather. heather: david lee, what about the possibility of any criminal charges? have those been filed? >> reporter: this is described as ongoing investigation. as of now, no criminal charges have been filed. local law allowed the sale of non-venomous snakes up to nine feet in length. the store owner says this snake, the one that apparently killed the boys is his own pet and was not for sale. the investigators say it was about 14 feet long. it weighed about 100 pounds. the african rock python kills its prey by squeezing it to death. a report by the florida department of environmental protection warned that this particular species of snake is a threat to pets, wildlife and small children. and heather, consider this.

fully grown, they can extend to as much as 30 feet long and weigh close to 250 pounds. heather: that is just awful. the owner himself describing it as vicious. david lee miller reporting live for us thank you. bill: terrible, terrible story there. the u.s. army coming under fire for refusing to break ties with dozens of government contractors with ties allegedly to al qaeda. why the army is refusing to take action. heather: and a mind-blowing discovery, shedding new light on how gold makes it from outer space to the ring on your hand. it's a story that you won't want to miss. ♪ i'm beth... and i'm michelle. and we own the paper cottage.

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during the process. however long that process takes, right? three-time mvp, highest-paid player in the sport talked to reporters about the suspension right before that game last night. >> obviously, disappointed with the news today, no question about it. but what we've always fought for is for the process, and i think we had that, and at some point we'll sit in front of an arbiter and give it, give our case. and that's as much as i feel comfortable telling yoig right now. bill: he answered a lot more questions in that press conference last night. jim gray is back, good morning to you. yesterday when we were talking, the sense we had was the appeal would be filed, but it's only a matter of days or weeks that it could be solved. could it go possibly months into the off season and beyond? >> it could, it could drag into november, december x it's exactly what baseball did not want. but here's or what alex

rodriguez really wants. he wants to try and protect that contract, and he has lost his reputation, he's lost his credtt of money, he's lost a lot of skill. by having this arbitration and going in front of the new arbitrator, he really has nothing to lose because the suspension, bill, so unprecedented, he feels as though it's going to be reduced. so he says, heck, everything else is gone, let me try this. bill: tony bosh is a key figure in this. he apparently ran this clinic in south florida, and rodriguez allegedly made a number of visits there going back a couple of years. based on testimony and the evidence there, what do they have against rodriguez where they could come down on him with a hammer for 211 games? what do they have? >> based on what i've been told by people who have seen the evidence, it is voluminous. they have so much on alex rodriguez. they had so much on so many of these guys that they're not even contesting it, including ryan

braun. ryan braun, who successfully won in an arbitration and had his suspension overturned on a positive drug test, saw what was going on with tony bosh and biogen sis, and he said i'll take the 65 games. what they have, i'm told by those who have seen it, is so much more, ten times more. alex rodriguez is picking a fight, and be i don't believe he's picking the right fight. this is a fight he cannot win. it's going to be even more embarrassing if that's possible, bill, what's going to come out, and i just don't see why he's going down this path. it will go through the postseason, it will continue to be a huge story, but he feels as though he can get due process. and when you look at it, the most that anybody's been suspended on a first-time offense is 50 games, and now they're calling for him 211. bill: johnny bench, hall of fame catcher, maybe the best catcher of all time, from hannity last night. listen. >> and alex continues to believe nobody will find wrongdoing in

what he's done, and, you know, he will live his own punishment. you heard the crowd tonight. this will happen with radio, with tv, with all the media, and it will happen in every park that a he ever plays in. he will have to live with that, and that's hard to do, but he seems to be, you know, have that turtle shell, and he can draw himself in and be unaffected by it. bill: i think the most fascinating aspect is what he said at the end, this turtle shell to draw himself in. based on your contact with rodriguez over the years and how well you do or do not know him, does he have the ability to go forward with his life, in this case playing baseball? >> well, he obviously has for all these other years, and he is, you know, call it narcissistic, call him delusional, he is what a lot of these athletes who engage in this type of activity become; deny, deny, deny, and then you get caught, and you think it's someone else's fault or somebody

else made you do this. that's the circumstance that alex rodriguez now finds himself in. i do believe that he loves the game, and i do believe that now he's finding out that you never know how good you have it until you don't have it anymore. and now he's going through that because he hasn't been able to play because of the surgeries and because he's gaining in age. and he wanted the best for himself in this game. he wanted this record. he wanted to be a great player. and he was for a number of years. but it comes out now that he's been cheating. he's admitted he cheated in 2001, '2 and '3 back before there was a testing program in place. and now they have all of this evidence and, plus, he was involved with dr. galea, a man who has been banned from having anything to do with people in sports up in canada. and he's had an association with him. all of that will come out now. so alex rodriguez is in a very, very difficult spot. i don't really see how he crawls out of it. bill: he has until thursday to file the appeal officially, and we expect that to happen. we'll see in time, 48 hours. if it does, he is home against

the tigers at yankee stadium friday night. we'll see if he's on the field then. thank you, jim. jim gray out of l.a. bureau this morning. heather: the u.s. army facing some serious heat this morning after saying that it is unable to break ties with dozens of government contractors allegedly tied to al-qaeda and other extremist groups. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel is live in our d.c. bureau with more. so, mike, lay out the nature of the problem. >> reporter: heather, good morning. the special inspector general for afghanistan reconstruction says army contracts with companies tied to al-qaeda and the taliban have not been suspended. the report says, quote: sigar has referred 43 such cases to the army, and all have been rejected despite details supporting information demonstrating that these individuals and entities are providing material support to the insurgency in afghanistan. in other words, they may be enemies of the united states, but that is not enough to get,

to keep them from getting government contracts. suspensions and debarments are an important tool for insuring that u.s. agencies award contracts only to responsible entities. a few minutes ago i interviewed a member of the house oversight committee who called this offensive. >> instead of prioritizing making sure that al-qaeda and the taliban don't get these contracts, you have some in the bowels of the pentagon who think it's more important that there's due process and that we give this contract to the proper bidder. these are the people that are trying to kill us. >> reporter: and chaffetz says the house oversight committee is looking into this in a bipartisan fashion. heather? heather: what is the army saying about the issue? >> reporter: well, army officials say the army cutting off contracts solely on inspector general information would fail to meet due process requirements. army public affairs says, quote: the army procurement fraud branch did receive and review the 43 recommendations late last year, but the report did not

include enough supporting evidence to initiate suspension and debarment proceedings under federal acquisition regulations. we're told the army has issued suspensions in the past, but the bottom line is the inspector general and lawmakers want them to do more in cutting off the money. heather? heather: mike emanuel reporting live for us, thank you. bill: happening right now, americans evacuated overseas. dozens told to leave immediately. what we are learning about the new al-qaeda threat and what all that means for the or -- for the war on terror. heather: plus, a teenager pleading guilty to killing a referee in the middle of the game. why he says he did it. >> people should see what he did, you know, so it does -- [inaudible]

bill: a 17-year-old accused of killing a soccer referee now pleading guilty. a teenager, his name's not been

released, was charged with homicide by assault after punching the ref in the head over a call he did not like. the ref later slipped into a coma and died, and in court his surviving daughter confronted his father's teenage killer. >> it's hard -- [inaudible] but i think we have the right to, you know, feel anger right now. bill: teenager sentenced to a juvenile facility until he turns 21 which is the maximum penalty under that law. ♪ ♪ heather: well, back to our top story now, a message from al-qaeda tipping off u.s. intelligence to what lawmakers call the most serious terror threat in years. officials fear that the terror group could be plotting undetectable liquid explosives, and now the state department evacuating all american employees from a u.s. embassy in yemen.

and just hours after shutting down embassies and consulates in 19 cities in the mideast and africa for the rest of the week. mike baker, former cia covert operations officer and president of diligence llc, a global intelligence and security firm, joins us with more. thank you for joining us, mike. i want to start first with this liquid explosive. what do we know about it, and who is making it? how dangerous is it? >> well, al-qaeda's always been very experimental in terms of trying to identify new delivery mechanisms for explosives. so we've known for a long time, i mean, you look at the underwear bomb, their experiments with are referred to as body bombs, bombs that are actually put inside the suicide bomber's body. we've also known that they have been working on liquid explosives, and so this is a carry-on from that. it's interesting that we're providing so much information about in this threat. i'm not sure that that's

actually necessary. we seem to be unable to keep secrets anymore when it comes to the actual specifics of threats. but, you know, now they've been talking about this, and so what they're trying to do is develop a liquid explosive that would not be detectable -- what they understand as being standard procedures and capabilities right now. and that could include either liquids in the form of a bottle posing as a drink, it could be liquid, interestingly enough, that they actually put clothing or other materials into. then that liquid dries, and suddenly you've got a sweater or whatever it may be that's coated -- heather: and undetectable by, at least here at home, tsa when you go through the security at the airports. >> right. and this is a constant struggle, a constant battle in the world of counterterrorism. you're always -- you don't want to be in a reactive mode, so we spend a lot of time within the community trying to understand what may be the next threat. so it's not as if we're just standing by waiting for al-qaeda or whomever to

develop, you know, the next generation of explosive devices. you know, on our side we're being very proactive in trying to insure that our technology stays ahead of that effort. heather: okay. the white house not ruling out an attack on u.s. soil. when we hear about, you know, the level of the threat, we hear about the possible liquid explosives that you're talking about, how concerned should we be here at home? >> well, we always have to be, you know, concerned to some degree. we don't seem to get the idea, the notion that there's nothing to be gained by our u.s. leadership going out there and saying we've got al-qaeda on the run, you know, we're close to victory. that's not going to happen. this is not a zero sum game. you know, jihaddism or extremism, radical islam, however you feel comfortable talking about it, that's not going away anytime soon. al-qaeda is an element of that. so we're talking about threats overseas. their big holy grail is always, you know, the big one.

and, you know, they not necessarily trying to top 9/11, but identifying and choosing and perpetrating an activity here in the u.s., that's their big holy grail. so we should be concerned. heather: yeah. and the major concern seems to be resonating around yemen at this point. back to what you mentioned in terms of the amount of information that continues to come out to the media, the public finding out about it. why do you think that's happening? >> well, call me cynical on this one, but clearly the white house despite calling benghazi a phony scandal and not wanting to necessarily deal with it, they're politically sensitive. they understand not just on the tragedy level, but on the political level what it would mean if they have another attack and loss of u.s. life overseas or here in the states. and so i'm afraid that there's a political calculation that has increased now in how we identify and then determine whether to release threat levels or threat

alerts. and that's a problem because then that potentially drives how much information we release. we've been talking now recently over the past day or two about why this was released. well, it was because it was a conversation that was intercepted between the number one offal child, zawahiri, and the head of al-qaeda in the arabian peninsula, aqap. so that's not information that needs to go out in the public. that's basically tellingal died how we're on to them -- telling al-qaeda how we're on to them. people need to learn to keep their yaps shut, frankly. heather: we definitely have to protect american lives, also protect our sources for the information. thank you. bill: mike, well stated. a daredevil scaling a dome 20 stories high, and police cannot catch him. where is he? heather: and we'll find out, perhaps here, there. is the gold here on earth made in outer space? don't miss this story. ♪ ♪

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heather: welcome back. newly-released surveillance video shows a daredevil scaling the minnesota state capitol building. take a look at this. capitol security spotted the intruder late one night last october as the man scaled the 200-foot marble dome to the very top. patrol officials say that he likely used some construction scaffolding around the building to get up there. >> incredibly dangerous. likely some sort of thrill seeker, but obviously a very dangerous situation he put

himself in and our security officers. heather: the climber was able to escape police by hiding behind marble statues, and then he was able to escape down on unguarded area of scaffolding. bill: there is gold, and then there's stars, folks. dodo you ever think it came from outer space? gold and platinum and lead could be formed from the collision, get this, of two ultra dense objects called neutron stars. corey powell with me again. >> i'm good. trying to give some perspective, when you complain about the price of gold, think about this. [laughter] bill: 1400 now? down a little bit. >> well, a lot of work went into that. bill: what's the concept? >> so the concept is people were not really sure where those heavy elements came from, especially where gold came from. they couldn't really explain the process that made it, and there's been a theory bouncing around that it was this very, very exotic kind of crazy process of two neutron stars or

a neutron star and a black hole banging into each other. so this is like, this is about the weirdest, most extreme kind of stellar collision you could have in the universe. bill: a neutron star, is that a star that's emitting light or no to? >> after a supernova, there's a little cinder left over. it's an entire star crammed down to the size of a city. let me show you how dense it is. this much material of neutron star that's two sugar packs, that would weigh as much as every single person on earth. bill: really? >> yeah. bill: so that collides with the black hole. >> so you have this incredibly dense star, basically like one giant atom, smashes into the black hole -- bill: happening here. >> which is happening here. and you're basically getting a big nuclear reactor there, all this radioactive material flying out, and you're getting trillions and trillions of tons of gold. bill: so that's how it's created, so it had to happen here a long time ago. >> right. so here you're seeing a simulation of something that we

just saw that happened in a very, very distant galaxy, about four billion light years away. but it happens -- we're not pretty sure it happens all other the universe, so the gold that's here on earth happened, this same process but long ago, nearby in our galaxy. bill: we're talking millions of years ago. >> we're tall, actually, billions of years ago. before there was an earth, before there was a sun, this was going on. and that stuff that blows out spreads out through space and becomes part of the next star and the next star, so we are, we're the legacy of these explosions, all the stuff right here. bill: why are we just learning this now? [laughter] did we stumble on some great find? >> well, i'll tell yo part of it, the idea that exploding stars made the atoms in your body, my body, that idea's been pretty well established for a long time. people knew that you're actually made of star stuff. i know. but -- bill: and here i thought you were the star. >> well, no, i'm happy to share the stage. but they didn't, what they

didn't know was that explains part of the story, but then there's all this other stuff, and gold is kind of the crux of the story. they couldn't figure out where it came from. that exploding stuff doesn't explain it. this explains it, and we've just seen this process in action for the first time. remember i told you it makes that weird radioactive trash pile? the hubbel space telescope watched the radioactive trash pile decaying around one of those distant stars. isn't that amazing? bill: and now we know! >> now we know. bill: go buy some gold. heather: thank you. well, some breaking news on former president george w. bush's health, the serious medical procedure that he just had done and how he's doing today. [ male announcer ] running out of steam?

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including van gogh's portrait of the postman. you could get millions and millions for that. heather: haven't quite decided what direction their going to do. bill: so you came back for punishment today. heather: i did. bill: and more tomorrow, right? heather: i haven't learned the lesson now. bill: right on. keep trying. "happening now" starts right now. jenna: brand new stories and breaking news. >> indeed, we do. the justice department taking a closer look at a -- the government's use of intelligence that led to an arrest. prompting to some to ask if the practice violates the constitution. we talk to the reporter who helped break the story. and a witness drops a bombshell in the trial of a woman who prosecutors say knew her former boss was behind her husband's murder. what she and the convicted killer were allegedly seen doing together. out of room and out of time, the fate of this big rig driver after an incredible accident, it's all "happening now."