bill: say, good-bye, jamie. >> bye-bye. have a great day. "happening now" starts right now. jenna: we start off with fox news alert. we're awaiting joint news conference with president obama and the italian prime minister. president obama is expected to talk about his 50-minute meeting with pope francis today and crisis with italy as well. they're both in the g7 which is unified of its criticism of vladmir putin's pressure into crimea. both lead remembers expected to take questions from reporters. we'll bring you the news conference as soon as it happens. right now, today's top headlines and brand new stories you will see here first. jon: a win for a minnesota teen in a case that could have national implications when it comes to social media and student's rights. we're live with more details on that. plus a former disney star

comes under attack in downtown l.a. what sparked the scuffle with zack efron. new painkiller entering the market but it is raising serious concerns. what the drugmaker agreed to do, it is all "happening now." jenna: we start off with new changes to obamacare and those that may be in the works, with the latest push coming amid fears about the midterm elections. hello, everybody, i'm jenna lee. jon: i'm jon scott. the enrollment deadline extension might not be enough for democrats worried about holding on to their seats in november so there is word they want to take action now with some vulnerable senators gearing up to introduce new legislation will reportedly fix parts of obamacare without undercutting the law's foundation. this comes as republicans make a play for control of the senate in the upcoming midterm elections. they need six seats to gain the

majority there. joining us nina easton, senior editor at "fortune" magazine and fox news contributor. also jamie weinstein, senior editor of "the daily caller." nina, some vulnerable senators like mary landrieu, kay hagan, talking about legislation that they promise will fix obamacare once and for all. what are the chances of selling that to their voters in their respective states. >> what we're seeing jon, the systemic attempts to take most poisonous aspects of obamacare off the table. the white house saying more people can keep their policies. they're avoiding a mass cancellation of policies right best election. we're seeing putting off mandate for businesses and small businesses. but now the candidates themselves are tackling it. so we have six senators coming out, probably today, with legislation that would, for example, address the concern about the premium increases

under obamacare, by offering a lower-cost plan, a plan they would call the copper plan, which is come behind the gold plan and silver plan and bronze plan. jon: if you don't like your bronze, silver or gold, jamie, you potentially have a copper plan you could buy i guess would be cheaper. is that the idea? >> yeah, that's the idea because of the high premiums that consumers are seeing. they also want to look in to see if you can sell insurance across state lines. that is something republicans have championed. i don't think we'll be seeing this proposal right now if the democrats were not very worried, especially democrats who are proposing this in vulnerable states in this upcoming election are very worried about losing their seat of and losing senate. a lot proving no, sir indicators see the senate could fall to the republicans this fall. they're trying to do what they can to take the threat of obamacare off the table. try to make it more palatable this is attempt to do that. will it work? that is very unclear.

even unclear if harry reid in the senate will allow it to come to vote. these vulnerable democrats are very worried about november. jon: i'm trying to think of old saying nina, that might be parallel, maybe do as i say not pass i do or a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush but this thing has been foisted upon people. it is already here. many americans are having to deal with obamacare. the reality of what exists versus this promise that we're going to try to fix it, how do they sell that to people and say, oh, yeah, things will get better because we're going to make it better? >> they sell it saying let's mend it, not end. that it actually has good things. they will make the case, they will appeal, especially to more popular things like keeping your child on your plan until age 26. or the, that preexisting conditions will, won't prevent you from getting insurance. they will focus a lot on those elements. it is interesting, jon, some

democratic strategists think the mend it, not end it is bad, weak defense. they were concerned in that florida special election that we saw in which the republican surprisingly won. there are some democratic strategists argue that the democrat, alex sink, should have embraced obamacare with full throat he hadly and not been so defensive bit. it is unclear, even among democrats about whether and how effect of that strategy of mend it, don't end it will be. jon: alex sinks run for governor before. hat statewide name recognition. the district was won by president obama last time around. yet the republican challenger won in part criticizing obamacare. jamie, the prospects of pulling this off, of, of trying to go to voters to say, look, we just want to change the law, will it

work? >> it's a tough sell. as you mentioned the florida 13 race is one of those examples that is worrying democrats. it didn't work, the mend it, don't end it strategy. it is very unclear if the alternative strategy is doubling down on obamacare would work. that also seems very dangerous. around the fact of the matter is, just might be impossible for democrats this cycle to escape the burden of obamacare. it is very unpopular. it will probably get more unpopular as more people see their plans change. they may be able to do nothing to get away from it. this is an attempt. it is unclear if it will work. but we'll see. jon: also kind of ironic, nina, that, you know, this is proposal to change this obamacare debacle through legislative means when the president changes it by executive direction anytime he wants to. >> that's right. he has been changing it. look, i don't think these lawmakers, these senators actually expect this to go anywhere. they want a talking point. they want some way to change the subject to neutralize the

subject. i would add a note of caution to republicans not to get too giddy at this point. it is true that the white house is taking a lot of the pain off the table and if that narrative isn't there, being pummeled every single day you might not see the kind of backlash against obamacare that republicans are hoping for. jon: all right. nina easton, jamie weinstein, interesting developments. we'll keep an eye on them. thank you both. jenna: fox news alert. standoff over ukraine intensifying between the western world and russia as russian troops are massing along ukraine's border, raising concerns of another invasion to come. this as ukraine is hopeful the u.n. will declare crimea's annexation by russia illegal. greg palkot streaming live from kiev with more. greg? >> reporter: hey, jenna. we spent the day talking with the top military brass here in kiev. yes, there is real concerns about that russian troop buildup but there is no consensus yet

when or if a russian invasion might happen. this comes as days after the last you rainian troops -- ukrainian troops surrender to russia after its annexation of crimea. a ceremony with the last unit to face off with russians. they say he is ready for any new attack and cooperating with the u.s. just coming from a meeting with american officials. as for those russian troops we heard an alarming new assessment coming from the national security chief here. he told us he thinks there is something like 88,000 russian troops now surrounding his country, including a new movement of troops we've been tracking north of kiev, just across-the-boarder inside russia. analyst said next week could tell the tale whether russia will move or not. russia says these are just manuevers. this guy is not buying that. meanwhile former ukrainian prime minister yulia tymoshenko is

running for a president in election scheduled in may. a month ago she was released from jail. because of charges thought to be trumped up by the former government moves could you. she is pro-democracy and today she is anti-russia. she says vladmir putin is ukraine's number one enemy. finally inner national monetary fund announcing today a massive loan bailout for ukraine, something like 14 to $18 billion, much-needed. the economy here is in very bad shape as the u.n. general assembly is expected to meet and vote to rule that russia's annexation of crimea is invalid. that is pretty much a moot point now, that the peninsula is very much in moskow's hand but maybe a shot across the bow in case moscow is thinking about other moves. back to you, jenna. jenna: a lot of discussion here at home amongst lawmakers in congress. greg, we'll be talking more about this. thank you. jon: there are new clues in the search for what happened to malaysia airlines flight 370.

a thai satellite detecting 300 objects floating in the indian ocean, a day after a french satellite showed more than 100 objection in the same general area. they believe the jet crashed far off the australian coast. steve centanni is live in our d.c. bureau with mores. steve, have they received any objections in is think any progress in the search? >> reporter: not on the end of the search. heavy wind and rains and high seas in the search area. the planes searching in that zone were called back because of the storm which is expected to last until sometime tomorrow but ships were able to continue the search even though hampered by the poor visibility today. now this comes as hopes were once again revived that pieces of plane might have been spotted. a thai satellite identify what could be a debris field containing 300 eight es. japan said its satellites also located possible floating

debris, but so far nothing has been recovered. >> searching in the air for 2 1/2 hours. we were unable to locate anything visually. the weather was not very good for the search and swell and sea was rather high in the area as well. >> reporter: this is the same area where a french satellite located possible debris on sunday, jon. jon: i understand the son of the pilot has finally spoken. what does he have to say? >> reporter: right, he broke the family silence over this whole tragedy saying he doesn't believe his father could have been responsible for bringing down that plane. the pilot, 53 circled "saw" shah was a veteran pilot with 11,000 hours of experience. his son told the newspaper that speculation is unfounded. he young man said i read everything on line but i ignored

all the speculation. i know my father better. we may not be as close as he travels much but i understand him. agony continues for families of victims who continue to criticize malaysia for its handling of the search. the fbi continues to analyze hard drives from the pilot's home simulator but so far nothing solid on that end, jon. jon: hard to believe three weeks in there is little hard information about what happened to the plane. steve centanni. thank you very much. >> reporter: you bet. jenna: president's approval ratings hitting record low earlier this month. are feelings about him changing. brand new polls released and what the numbers mean. we'll go in depth. officials in washington state demanding action. what he says what need to be done while crews with the emotional task of searching through this disaster zone. >> in my 40 years of public service, 31 years as a state trooper and 13 states in the united states coast guard, nothing in the world could have

prepared me for what i saw. when i flew over the area on sunday i said that, you needed to see it to believe it. now that i've seen it from the ground, i must tell you that i still can't believe what i saw. 

jenna: we're waiting for some new information on the deadly mudslide in washington with a news conference expected next hour as the governor of washington state is asking for a review of the risk assessment system for landslides. in the meantime crews are still searching in the disaster zone for the sixth day in a row. dan springer is live in arlington, washington, with more on this. >> reporter: jenna, sadly the news is very grim here. 25 are known dead. officials spent time last night preparing the community for likelihood of a much higher death toll. more thanhundred people are out there searching for victims.

local volunteers, national guard unit, trained to find bodies in the rubble of a battlefield. and a federal search team found additional victims and we'll get that number next hour. officials lowered the number of people missing from 176 down to 90. about 180 people live in the 35 homes that were destroyed. you also have people who were driving on the highway that got buried. they're suggesting that the 90 missing could all be dead. >> unless you're in a junk fell in south america you know what happened here. so i think the logical assumption is that if you're on this list of 90, then you're on this list of 90. >> reporter: washington governor jay inslee spoke at a community meeting. one of the questions that will have to be answered at some point whether government should have done more to inform residents about the landslide danger that was identified in several geological surveys. instead of fingerpointing what

the community needs is prayers and healing. the only church in oso held a prayer vigil last night. so many people are affected including the first-responders. we spoke with one digging with her hands trying to find a four-month-old granddaughter after friend and member of her rescue team. >> down on my happeneds and knees and i'm digging through this mud. and i just kept thinking, i just want to find her because, you know, i just want to, i want to be able to say to stef i found her. >> reporter: the worst natural disaster in this state's history happened back in 1910 when 97 people were killed in an avalanche riding in two trains of the way this disaster is shaping up, jenna, it could rifle it. back to you. jenna: dan, thank you very much. jon: investigators are hoping new satellite images of hundreds of objects floating in the southern indian ocean will help them find the wreckage of flight 370. our next guest is a senior

airline captain with insights into one of the mouse puzzling aviation mysteries in history. the latest on the massive nine-alarm fire in boston that tragically took the lives two of firefighters. why do people count on sunsweet prune juice to stay fit on the inside?

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jon: fox news alert. president obama joining prime minister matteo renzi for a joint news conference at renaissance era villa in rome. we have it streaming for you live. if you like to hear their remarks, it is available to you live on foxnews.com. jenna: more now on the search for flight 370. now a thai satellite is detecting 300 objects floating in the indian ocean a day after a french satellite showed more than 100 objects in a similar area. investigators hoping to locate a

debris field and ultimately the plane and the black boxes that will help them learn what happened to the boeing 777 and the 239 people on it. joining us captain bob clement. senior airline captain. retired u.s. navy and also worked on these investigations before. bob, great to have you back. we talked about a week ago. in that week now we have these mentions of a few hundred different items spotted on satellites. what do you make of progress or lack thereof? >> finding the debris fields would be great. the debris fields as large as they are indicate very high impact accident. now it is at 2, 2 1/2 weeks for these debris fields to drift. once they do locate them, it will be matter of taking upper sea currents and undersea currents to try to locate where the actual aircraft debris field would be at. jenna: how challenging is that to go back in time? >> they have a general idea of the drift rates like that. they will be able to narrow it

but it is still a tremendous amount of area in one of the remotest parts of the world. and it is getting to be winter down there. it is southern hemisphere but they're going into the fall and shorter days and heavier seas and colder weather. jenna: we heard conditions yet again were really rough, bob. so rough that we had to pull back on the search effort now. can you describe to us a little bit of the challenges that, as you understand them, as a pilot and the risks now posed to those that are out there searching? >> when you're down flying that low and there is that much icing condition, it was reported severe icing, severe turbulence, even the most modern aircraft today are prohibited in flying those conditions because they can't handle ice accumulation and flying that low to the water is very, very dangerous. so we don't want to risk people looking for the debris fields. >> are you confident we're in the right place? >> i am very confident that we're in the right place. i think we have a lot of assets.

we've had numerous individual agencies make good hits on the debris. the indication from the satellite, yes i think we're looking in the right area. jenna: on the issue of debris and the amount of items that have been reported, they have never come out and said, this debris is airplane debris. and we've seen different reports, bob, suggest sometimes the way the light can reflect off the water. it could be dolphins, could be other things. so are you cautious based on that? or is it simply the amount of debris, is that unique enough to say this is really tied to an airplane going down? >> in 21 years in the navy going around the oceans, seeing that large of a debris field and multiple items in a small area would indicate that, yes, it came from an aircraft or some other catastrophic event in the area. and it would indicate very much that it was a large impact with the airplane going in, so it broke up. so seat cushions and wiring and

parts of the airplane, because the foam filled would be floating in a large area. jenna: i see. captain bob, thanks for having you back on the program. look forward to see youing you as well. >> thank you. jon: brand new poles released and what they tell bus the president and the upcoming midterm elections. we'll go in depth on that. plus they lost their lives saving others. now boston is mourning and and saluting two firefighters who died battling a brownstone inferno. we're live with the story. i've got a to-do list and five acres of fresh air. ♪ happiness is a drive-over mower deck.

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visit truecar.comoney,com,t and never overpay.yer's remorse. a good deal or not. "okay, this is the price,"sman comes and you're like.ells you, jon: "happening now," president obama's approval rating hit an all-time low earlier this month. well now some americans seem to be changing their mind about how well he is doing his job. the results of the latest fox news poll coming up. a teenager has a huge victory in court. she is getting a huge settlement after claiming her school violated her constitutional rights by viewing her facebook and he have email accounts. we'll have a live report on that. powerful new painkiller that is hitting store shelves is raising some concerns. already calls to make it illegal in several states. why some believe it is so dangerous and ad district tiff. jenna: continuing to follow breaking news out of boston today where residents are mourning the loss of two city firefighters of the men died battling a fast-moving

nine-alarm fire at a brownstone yesterday right in the city. molly line in boston live with what we know now. molly? >> reporter: jenna, investigators are beginning to just look at this site. they were not able to get into the bidding to take a look. today there is tremendous amount of water there, as far as a cause they haven't rule anything in and haven't ruled anything out either at this point in time. the blaze was believed to start in the basement of a tall structure, really a big brownstone a classic structure for that are area of boston, classic area. more than 150 firefighters worked to knock the massive blaze down and get people to safety. a boston fire spokesperson said today some kind of extraordinary event happened in the basement. a may-day call was made. there was a rapid intervention team standing by. they responded but the problem was the sheer volume of fire. the current consensus is that wind had a big impact here. there were 45 mile-an-hour gusts feeding at the time of this

fire. boston firefighters michael kennedy and lieutenant edward walsh lost their lives after being among the first to rush in saving others. >> the sad day for us and city of boston. >> 30 years i never seen a fire travel that fast, escalate that quickly and create such havoc in short period of time. >> we lost two heroes here today. these two heroes, ran into a burning building. got people out out of the build. >> reporter: suffolk county prosecutor with specialized training of fatal fires joined a team of investigators including boston police department and boston fire investigators because this is a death investigation. they want to make it clear it doesn't necessarily mean anything suspicious has happened. that is just the protocol in the event of a fatality. jenna. jenna: most of us likely haven't heard or heard of a nine-alarm fire, poly. we have a understand just how dire the situation was and how

heroic these firefighters were. can you tell us a little bit the two men who lost their lives? >> reporter: firefighter michael kennedy was 36 years old. a six 1/2 year veteran. a marine corps veteran who served in iraq. he was among the first responders to rush in during the boston marathon bombing last april. lieutenant edward walsh, jr. was assigned to engine company 33, located on boylston street. he was 43 years old. a nine 1/2 year veteran. a son of a water town, firefighter from a big family of firefighters. married with children. two boys, one girl. all of the kids are under 10 years old. jenna. jenna: real heroes. good to know their names and something about them. certainly thinking of their families. molly, thank you. >> reporter: thanks, jenna. jon: talk about president obama's approval ratings now. they are showing some improvement according to our latest "fox news poll." 40% of voters say they approve of the job president obama is doing. that is slightly up from earlier

this month when the president hit a record low of 38%. joining us now, angela mcglowan, fox news political analyst. he has had a tough couple of weeks with the russian invasion of ukraine especially when it comes to how he is handling peon expressing some disapproval. is this uptick in his ratings for real, do you think, angela? >> well, jon, let me say this, poll numbers do not win elections but they can help gauge where an election is going or could go for political strategists. what wins elections is fund-raising, messaging and advocacy. so with these poll numbers it can give more hope to liberals that they might have a chance of victory in november, or, it could give more confidence to republicans that they have a better chance of winning if their opponents go on the president's messaging. but, jon, it is an eternity before november and midterm elections, so both sides have to come up with a message of

solutions to actually satisfy their constituencies. jon: i mentioned that the president has taken some hits over foreign policy a lot of observers seem to think he is being pushed around on the world stage by vladmir putin. voters in this "fox news poll," or respondents to this "fox news poll" were asked whether the president is a strong and decisive leader. and he has taken a real hit on that score these days. 43% of the people say yes, back in december. >> right. jon: in december of last year it was 47%. his record high in october of 2009, 60%. that's a significant drop on that particular question, angela. >> yes, in 2009, jon, you had a lot of folks, young adults, minorities, women, blocks, hispanics voted for the president, had confidence in the president. now when you vote in the polls in november you will think about your pocketbook. most people will think who will make my life better today. whether it is the president on

vladmir putin in russia or your local congressman or senator on their policies they pushed in congress, that's going to decide elections. so again, i believe for the midterm elections, jon, it is all about all politics is local. so whatever party can get their message out, their advocacy out, the grassroots out, they will be victorious. right now it looks like republicans but we shouldn't count our votes yet. jon: you mentioned fund-raising. just since this broadcast began the democratic congressional campaign committee sent out a fund-raising appeal under president obama's name. here is what is it says. friends, i won't minutes words with you. i could get a whole lot more done if i didn't have republicans in congress obstructing our agenda every step of the way. i guess that's the way politics works. you maim the other party, if you're not getting, or not achieving things with you will that, will that approach carry democrats through the next

midterm election? >> that is an old strategy of the left, put your opponent on the defensive but it is not going to work this time, jon, because the president has the white house. has had the white house and had congress the first two years of his presidency -- jon: democratic majority. >> exactly. will it help him raise money? yes. raising money can help you get-out-the-vote and get your message out in commercials. but it is grassroots. people are tired of the blame. people are tired of class war far politics and the race of politics. what they want now are solutions. so the republicans can no longer blame the president for his bad policies. they will have to step up to the plate to say, this is what we would do, this is what we can do. keep us in. give us the majority and we'll do this with a democratic president. jon: angela mcglowan, fox news political analyst. thanks. >> thanks, jon. jenna: we're seeing breaking news any moment now, results from an internal review on the

so-called "bridgegate" scandal that included governor chris christie. this was supposed to look at two major areas. we certainly covered a lot. one is the closing of the lanes on the george washington bridge and whether or not the governor did that has political retribution as he has been accused of. taking a look at accusations the way the governor allotted sandy aid done somehow in unethical way. this review is being done by a specific law firm though that is the law firm of chris christie. so there are a couple of twists and turns of this story. eric shawn standing by. we're expecting folks to step to the podium. eric, what should folks know what we are about a to hear? >> this 360 page report, it concludes that governor chris christie didn't know. they interviewed 70 witnesses, cost about a million dollars. reviewed 250,000 documents in all this. this review was done by a law firm that has worked for christie's administration in the

the past. the lead lawyer we're about to hear from is randy mass slow. a long-time new york political fixture. a deputy mayor and chief of staff for former mayor rudy giuliani, a christie ally. they did interview governor christie. had access to emails and texts. they blame this whole thing on david wildstein the former port authority official saying one of his quote crazy ideas that he had had before. the report also says that bridge get anne kelly, fired former deputy chief of staff carried this out. it does not make clear the role, if any of bill stepien, christie's former campaign manager but basically blames both wildstein and bridge get anne kelly carrying this out. we list ren to randy mastro. and allegations from mayor zimmer are false. let's listen to randy msatro. head of the massive investigation. >> our findings after this

-week of professional investigation. this is team of former federal prosecutors with more than 50 years of government experience and many, many internal investigations as part of our backgrounds. 10 weeks ago we set about to do this investigation. we've since conducted over 70 interviews. we reviewed more than 250,000 documents. and at the same time we have facilitated cooperation with other ongoing investigations. and i'm here today to tell you our bottom line findings and then to answer your questions. we probably won't be able to get to everything today. you will probably have many more questions as you read our 345-page report which we consider to have been based on a thorough and exhaustive review. i'll be happy to take questions as you go through that report

later and to get you the information that you request. but for today's purposes let me come to the bottom line findings. first, in connection with allegations related to the george washington bridge realignment, we found that governor christie had no knowledge beforehand of this george washington bridge realignment idea, and that he played no role whatsoever in that decision or the implementation of it. we further found no evidence that anyone in the governor's office, besides bridge get kelly, knew about this idea in advance, played any role in the decision or the implementation of it. what we did find was that, after the decision to implement the

lane realignment, while it was going on and in its aftermath, the members of the governor's office, some of them became aware of the lane realignment, inquired of port authority representatives, and were told this was a legitimate traffic study and that it was an operational issue for the port authority to deal with. we further found that as the controversy grew by early december, as there were rumors about potential of others involvement, appropriate steps were taken to try to determine if anyone else in the governor's office, anyone in the governor's office, was involved in the lane realignment decision. and when those appropriate

inquiries were made, bridget kelly, lied to her colleagues and even reached out to a subordinate, and asked them to destroy potentially incriminating document. and we further found that it was not until january the 8th, 2014, when documents that had been subpoenaed were first revealed, that they showed that david wildstein and bridget kelly had participated in this act. this decision and the implementation of it, to realign the george washington bridge lanes at fort lee. and we further found, based on our investigation, that david wildstein is the person who originated this idea, and

orchestrated it. david wildstein went to bridget kelly for approval in the governor's office and, that they had an ulterior motive for implementing that decision, to in some way target mayor sock lynch in for the leigh. we're not able to answer every question today. we're not able to answer what the ulterior motive was but we can say that the evidence does not establish that ulterior motive was to target the mayor because he did not endorse governor christie for re-election. in fact there is substantial contrary evidence. in fact, the evidence shows that both the governor's office and the christie campaign knew as early as march, 2013, that mayor soklich would not be endorsing the governor re-election yet by his own account he con inr

tinned to have good relations with the christie administration and indeed was on a list of mayors being considereds considered for honorary appointments by the governor as recently as mayor 2013. we further find when the governor became aware that bridget kelly in his office had been involved in the decision to close these lanes, he took appropriate action. he fired bridget kelly. and then he commissioned this investigation and made a public commitment early on before our investigation had progressed beyond its initial stages that he was going to release our findings to the public before he could have known what they would

be. and before i knew what our recommendations would. he directed us on day retained, first time i ever met governor christie, to find out whatever the facts are, whatever they may be to report them back to the governor's office and to make recommendations as we saw fit to address the problems so that something like this never happens again. and that is what we have done in our 345-page report. now as to the second issue, that we were asked to investigate involving hoboken's sandy aid. we find that mayor zimmer's allegations that members of the christie administration delivered a message from the governor to her, threatening

hoboken's sandy aid unless she supported a private development project are not only unsubstantiated, they are demonstrably false in material respects. mayor zimmer's object it i have -- subjective perceptions do not match the objective reality reflected in the hard evidence that we uncovered during our investigation. in fact, they are contradicted by contemporaneous documents, witness accounts, and her own prior statements. so no remedial actions are required in regard to those allegations. finally i want to briefly summarize some of the recommendation that is we have made to the governor. because while the actions of the few, there is a violation of, breach of the public trust that

we take very seriously and we take our mandate very seriously to make recommendations to the governor that something, in his office, that something like this never happen again. so among the recommendations that we have made to the governor's office are that iga, that's the intergovernmental affairs office, that was run by bridget kelly, in 2013, that that office be disbanded and that the governor's office be reorganized and its functions be combined with those of the governor's office of constituent relations into an office of legislative and constituent services, to get back to the original mission of that office which was to provide con sit

wouldn't services, constituent services, to provide to non-partisan way, open to all, the way that office functioned during the first three plus years of governor christie's administration, until the aberrational behavior directed by bridget kelly in 2013. and the mission of that office should be made crystal clear. to be a service function for all in a non-partisan manner. second, we have recommended to the governor's office that the governor appoint an ombudsman and a chief ethics officer for the governor's office. the on bud man would be a senior statesman of unquestioned integrity, and independence, to

report directly to the governor and to issue periodic reports to the public as both a resource, a sounding board and a place to go for complaints within the governor's office. and we recommended separately the appointment of a chief ethics officer for the office of the governor to be responsible for ethics enforcement, conflicts issue resolution, and training. and that that person should have a direct reporting relationship both with the chief counsel to the governor, the ombudsman, and an ability to report to the governor as well. finally in regard to the port authority, which is where this lane realignment was effectuated, we recommend the appointment of a bi-state

commission to examine ways in which to fundamentally restructure and reform the port authority to insure its independence and professionalism this incident exemplifies that there are times within the port authority where the rivalries between new york and new jersey have led to communication failures, and other problematic issues. a bistate commission, appointed by both governors, can look at ways to help improve the operations of the port authority, to make it truly independent and professional to serve the needs of both states. in the first instance a commission will hopefully look at these types of issues. first, whether it's appropriate to restructure so that there are

new jersey and new york divisions, functions, projects, principally in one state or the other that will be run by each of those states so that those states will be truly accountable for the projects applicable to each state. second, to look at ways to restructure the appointments process at the port authority, to encourage independence and professionalism. in terms of years,ered terms, that will exceed the length of materials of governors and joint appointments by both governors to increase independence, and responsibility within the port authority. that is a brief, ladies and gentlemen, of our findings and recommendations and now i would be pleased to take questions. yesterday david? >> -- chris christie's lawyer

the fact you found he did nothing wrong here is what you're supposed to do, work for him and that would affect your findings. >> sure, the premise of the question is wrong, david, because the premise of the question is that our law firm works for an individual. our law firm was retained by the office of the governor. we were retained by a public office and we have an obligation to that public office. and whatever the facts were that we found, our obligation, and it was publicly stated was, was to report those findings back to that office and that office announced publicly, long before we had reached any point of rendering findings or knowing what our findings would be, that those findings would be put out to the public. and david, had we found evidence to the contrary of what we found, we would have been reporting that and of course, in facilitating our cooperation

with investigations, we would have been providing that evidence to investigators. what we found, david, what we found, was that governor christie had no involvement in the decision to close these leans and no prior knowledge of it. not a shred of evidence of it. and we're obligated to report that back. that is our public responsibility. both as lawyers and to a public office. yes, andrea. >> did you interview witnesses under oath? did you interview chairman sampson and what did chairman sampson know? >> our interviews were not under oath just as initial interviews that other investigations are doing are typically not under oath. chairman sampson had denied any prior knowledge of the lane closure incident and in prior statements so he had made. we had benefit of that but we

did not have the opportunity to interview him. yes? >> most residents of new jersey are probably today realizing this cost a million dollars, gagging on their breakfast. what does a million dollars buy? >> well, first of all, i have no idea what the cost of this has been but i will say that to do an investigation like this and to have to facilitate cooperation with other investigations that have issued sweeping, overbroad subpoenas, there is a costly proposition. it's a costly proposition for the governor's office. for the legislative committees. for those individuals who are involved. but let me also say this. it's a search for the truth. and we believe we have gotten to the truth or we would not be reporting it. it serves no one's interest, no one's -- jenna: we just heard from the law firm again, hired by the governor's office of new jersey to investigate the quote,

unquote, "bridgegate" scandal that has been plaguing chris christie's office. eric shawn still standing by. eric, many of the results we got from this lawyer exonerates christie's involvement. does this end here, or is this over or are there more investigations to come? >> reporter: no, not at all. this is just this one investigation, the internal investigation by the office of the governor as randy mastro just said. this is also parallelling a u.s. attorney investigation in newark. there is another separate one of the u.s. attorney in the southern district of new york city, looking at port authority and joint legislative committee by the new jersey state senate and legislature which is expected to hold hearings soon about what happened. what is really interesting about what randy just said a few moments ago the investigators reviewed both christie's texts and emails. they say they found no evidence that he was involved in this at all. certainly more will be coming

out as the day progresses. jenna. jenna: we'll have continuing coverage of that with you, eric. we appreciate it very much. we'll take a quick break. see everybody at the top of the hour with more "happening now."

jon: a fox news alert and some only announce new intelligence assessments from united states officials who have been speaking to fox news. they say it looks more likely than ever that russia intends to invade eastern ukraine. as you know, russia has already gobbled up the crimean peninsula, but they apparently have their sights set on other parts of the eastern ukraine. there are reports that 30,000 russian troops remain massed along the borders. none of those troops have returned to their barracks since conducting exercises. the assessment is that vladimir putin wants to create a land bridge from russia into crimea, and he would do so by gobbling up more of the ukraine.

we'll keep our eye on those troop movements. in the meantime, the united nations general assembly just passed a resolution calling the annexation of crimea illegal. whether or not vladimir putin will respond to that, we do not yet know, but ominous development cans along the border of eastern ukraine. russian troops apparently poised to invade, and u.s. officials say they believe it is likely that will happen. we'll keep you updated here on fox news. jenna: kt mcfarland's going to be along on that topic. we're going to bring you right to washington state, because this is the news conference on that devastating mud slide in washington. the death toll stands at 25, there are 90 people still missing according to law enforcement on the ground. emergency crews are worried they may not be able to recover all of the victims. but teams of emergency responders and volunteers are digging through the debris again

today hoping for a miracle. they've said it over and over again that they believe in that, and they're going to continue to work. so we're going to monitor this news conference for any updates, we'll bring you the news as we get it. jon: and this fox news alert, new clues spotted in the search for flight 370. thailand announces that one of its satellites found 300 objects floating in the southern indian ocean in the same general search area where other nations' satellites have discover ised what could be debris from the plane. now china has a new maritime vessel patrol on the way, but there was another setback today. planes and p ships forced to turn back early, stormy weather making it too dangerous to continue. but searchers say they are remaining hopeful. >> a little disheartening. you know this will be a difficult mission, and you know it will go on for a very long time. but we've done similar work when it's just us, but with what for us is a similar sized task.

so -- in the south pacific you might be looking for a single canoe in the vastness of the pacific, and we do find them. so there is always hope fors us, and that's what keeps you going. jon: as the search goes on as they have yet to recover any debris that they can associate with the aircraft, william la jeunesse has the latest from los angeles. william? >> reporter: and right now, jon, hope is about all they have, that tomorrow when the sun rises in perth, weather will have improved, those planes can get back in the air and confirm what satellites suggest we see, that the airline went down in the indian ocean. so for the second time this week, poor visibility forced seven search planes back to base. ships did remain in the area, but high e seas made for slow going. bottom line, no one found any until evidence of flight 370. but take a look at what is encouraging. new photos by a thai satellite showing some 300 objects floating ranging from 10-50 feet

long. sunday a french satellite captured 122 objects, the largest the length of an airplane wig. last week australian and chinese satellites also captureed large floating objects. today japan reported seeing ten square objects by satellite. so for perspective, if these images all come from an area roughly about 400 square miles, problem is strong currents and winds have dispersed or sunk some of the object toes making them difficult to find. meantime, a new focus on the pilot. "usa today" quotes a high ranking malaysian investigator who says he is, quote, solely responsible for the accident. the london times also quotes an unnamed source saying shah was despondent after his wife left him. he was unfit to fly. but others are calling these reports premature, unfounded and unfair. an fbi examination of shah's laptop and flight simulate arer should be complete today or

tomorrow. some former officials say that report is inconclusive, no smoking gun. others say there is simply no evidence, financial, political, personal problems that made shah a suicidal hijacker. so now, jon, he is not guilty, nor is he exonerated. the answer, was this a deliberate action, was it accident or something mechanical, the black box, of course, is what could answer that which is why they're trying to saturday 40 find it -- so hard to find it. jon: and they don't have a lot of time left as those batteries should potentially run out in ten days or so. william la jeunesse in l.a., thank you. jenna: we're going to get back to some of the breaking news, new jersey governor chris christie cleared of any sort of wrongdoing in the george w. bush bridge trafficking scandal -- i'm sorry -- [laughter] george washington bridge. i'm sorry. jon: different president. jenna: that's not exactly right. i should have caught that ahead

of time. anyways, there were two scandals facing the governor, as you know, whether or not he closed down the lanes in the george washington bridge for political retribution and whether or not he allotted funds supposed to be going for sanity aid in -- sandy aid in an unethical way. eric shawn's going to catch us up and get us together. eric. thank you. [laughter] >> reporter: this is the report, look at this, about 360 or so, 45 pages of very exhaustive report. it claims that governor christie didn't know, but it also raises questions about whether or not he was actually told about the closings as they were happening. the conclusion of this report, $1 million. the internal investigation into his potential role in the closings of those lanes on that george washington bridge which the governor has, of course, long heatedly denied. as you can see, it was just released by the new york city law firm that has worked for the christie administration, the lawyers said they interviewed 70 people, reviewed 250,000 documents and that they did have access to governor christie's

personal texts and e-mail, and they say they found nothing incriminating and that he had no role in the closings. that is randy, the lead investigator. the exhaustive investigation pins the blame on this woman, the now-fired chief of staff bridget ann kelly as well as david wild steven, the former port authority official. wildstein suggested he did mention the closing to governor crease tee as they were happening -- christie as they were happening, but the governor told the lawyers that he does not remember wildstein telling him that. the role of campaign manager, though, there seen talking to the governor on the right remains unclear. the report says that the closings, quote: it was wildstein's idea, like so many other ones he'd had before that never got off the ground. kelly's e-mail exchanges with wildstein were particularly damning because she seemed to be blessing the decision beforehand for some ulterior motive. the campaign manager showed awareness but not approval.

>> that governor governor christie had no knowledge beforehand of this george washington bridge realignment idea and that he played no role whatsoever in that decision or the implementation of it. >> reporter: mastro says kelly lied about the closings and no one else in the governor's office knew about it. he said, though, there were ulterior motives related to the fort lee mayor, but the investigators cuddle not find out exactly what they were. hoboken mayor's claims that the administration withheld funds for hurricane sandy relief unless she supported projects in her city, those were false. the lawyers do not have access to any of the e-mails or texts or information and were not able

to talk to them. this all comes as there were a variety of other, parallel investigations, the state senate and assembly in new jersey conducting their own hearings expected to be held on that soon as well as two separate u.s. attorney investigations, we expect to aeromore from governor christie on this when he decides to make himself publicly available, and certainly we will follow up. jenna: and when do we expect that, eric? >> reporter: not quite sure. he had his governor's radio show that he holds monthly yesterday, but we are on his schedule. he really hasn't held a news conference concerning all this. he has been asked about this during these town meetings, so we will, of course, effort to see what he has to say about this internal investigation from the law firm that his office hired that basically, in a sense, clears him of of any involvement. jenna: we know you're working the story, eric. we'll be watching to see what the response is from here on out. interesting news, and i think jon that is more to add, eric, thank you. jon: right. because chris christie was, of course, considered at or near the top of the heap when it

comes to potential republican presidential candidates for 2016. is he still? let's ask susan fericho, how badly have his chances been hurt by what took place on the george washington bridge? >> i think this is a potentially devastating blow to christie's presidential aspirations. now, is it a fatal blow? it's too early to say that just because it's only 2014. but he's got the whiff of scandal about him now, and it's not just that it's a scandal, the type of scandal that i think is particularly damaging to christie's aspirations because it runs so count tore what i think voters -- counter voters found so appealing about christie, which is his authenticity. now there's at least the potential that he's this vindictive governor who's been less than truthful about his involvement in how the sandy money was doled out, so it sort of takes the bloom off the rose

for him. and you can see that in poll numbers. he was riding on top of the polls for quite a while. he's fallen down several places. he's turned this gop nomination into a wide open race. jon: right. but i wonder about the reaction to this report. now, this is not the report that democrats in the state legislature are asking for, the investigation that they have launched. this is a private report paid for by the governor's office with a private law firm. but if the governor, you know, if the governor just sat back, circled the wagons and said we're not going to talk to anybody until some other state investigation comes out, he would be criticized. yet he's also being criticized for sort of, you know, hometowning this investigation by hiring a private law firm to do so. it's like, you know, danged if you do, danged if you don't. >> exactly, jon. it's really a no-win situation for him because everybody is going to criticize this report because it came from his own

office. so naturally, you're going to expect it will come out showing him less than guilty. but there's the federal, there's the state probe into what happened here, and i think with so many people with their potential freedom on the line here who have been criticized and indicted in this situation, they're going to start putting out more information about christie's involvement. in fact, they already have. i can't see him escaping this unscathed. he hasn't so far. as i said, he has the whiff of guilt around him at this point even though his own office said he hasn't done anything wrong. i think we're going to potentially hear more because there's going to be more testimony, more digging by prosecutors looking into this matter that it's going to just dog him into 2014, 2015. it's going to make him unattractive not just to voters, but to donors, to people who might be looking for a candidate to put their money into. i think it makes him a really vulnerable candidate at this point and, like i said, he's fallen down, basically, into the

middle of the pack right now. it's going to be hard to move back on top. jon: all right. susan ferrichio, thank you. jenna: now to other big news, major concerns about another russian invasion of ukraine with tens of thousands of russian troops massed on its border. we're getting some new numbers, some new classified assessments that's bringing a lot of urgency to the situation. kt mcfar lane's going to be in on that. plus, storm chasers gather information to help us predict dangerous tornadoes. now new technology to keep them safer in the storm. okay, listen up! i'm re-workin' the menu. mayo? corn dogs? you are so outta here! aah! [ female announcer ] the complete balanced nutrition of great-tasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and 9 grams of protein. [ bottle ] ensure®. nutrition inharge™.

jenna: well, some big concerns right now about russia's next move. a i new classified assessment showing russian president vladimir putin could be readying to push into ukraine with tens of thousands of troops stationed near the in orderer. three towns could be the -- near the border. three towns could be the target.

this has been a fast-developing story throughout the day today. our chief washington correspondent, james rosen, has the latest from d.c. >> reporter: jenna, good afternoon. sources are telling fox news if the number of russian troops massed along the border has increased from around 340,000, worry isome enough, to up to -- worrisome enough, to up to 80,000, and that this surge is what is occasioning the deep sense of alarm that u.s. lawmakers have been voicing in that period. nato's supreme allied commander europe, u.s. air force general phillip breedlove, briefed members of the house armed services committee behind closed doors this morn, -- morning, warning that the kremlin could be eyeing a seizure of the region of moldova where there is a large russian-speaking population. >> we're all concerned about what russia's doing on the border of ukraine, the size of

forces and a message that is not con groups with respecting the borders of ukraine. >> reporter: russia's president vladimir putin is vowing to start a new credit card system for the russian federation following moves by visa and mastercard to deny services to their bank slapped with u.s. sanctions amidst the crisis. putin called the credit card companies' actions too bad and said they are only blocking themselves from, quote, a very profitable market. and at the united nations general assembly in new york this morning, western diplomats are hoping to secure at least 80-90 yes votes for a nonbinding vote on a referendum. >> ukraine deserves our full support in trying to persuade russia to end its isolation and to move from a policy of unilateral confrontation and aggressive acts to a good faith

diplomatic effort informed by facts, facilitated by dialogue and based on law. >> reporter: finally, the international monetary fund has announced a loan package for ukraine of up to $18 billion that would go to the embattled central government in kiev. it faces a shortfall of $35 billion over the next two years. the u.s., the e.u. and japan are also pledging to contribute. jenna? jenna: a lot to this story today, james, thank you very much. we're going to take a closer look at russia's latest moves. our guest says vladimir putin is aiming to restore russia's empire. kt mcfarlane is our guest, we're going the ask her about these numbers and what our next move could be. jon? jon: it was a horrific scene at los angeles international airport last fall. >>? [inaudible] >> on the floor, on the floor now! on the floor! jon: a transportation security administration officer gunned down in the line of duty, and in the wake of that shooting, the

tsa announcing new guidelines to try to keep our airports safer. what they are, how well they might work. we'll talk with a former tsa deputy director. plus a big controversy today as one state prepares to execute the first woman in more than half a century there. the breaking details on this case straight ahead. [ male announcer ] this is kevin. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. ♪ [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap.

a different report, a separate government report on tsa's body language training questioning how well the program works given its hefty $1 billion price tag over the last few years, so tom blink is the right guy to talk about this, former deputy director of the tsa. let's just start with armed tsa officers because the officers are the ones that are looking for the bombs, the knives, the guns, anything bad inside a traveler's luggage or on a

person. so i guess it didn't really always dawn on me that they didn't have a line of defense. what line of defense is existing right now at airports? >> well, tsa works closely with local and airport police agencies to determine how to position law enforcement personnel across all major airports. sometimes they're present at the exit lanes. you'll see armed leos at the exit lanes that can respond. other times tsa has worked out response time, a certain amount of time where a law enforcement officer would have to be, come to the checkpoint when alerted of an active shooting situation. i think what you've seen as a result of the los angeles situation is tsa's going to change that up. they're going to train more, they're going to use better technology which means they want to alert law enforcement officers more quickly of an active shooter situation s and you're seeing them change the tactics. and the tactics will be a more

visible law enforcement presence at peak hours at the actual checkpoint, but also in the ticket lobbies -- jenna: and let me just stop you there, tom. you keep going on that line of thought, but i want to be clear for our viewers that the tsa agents that we meet now when we're in an airport line, this report isn't recommending that they're armed, is it? it's that there's actual police officers, is it, you know, local police, is it airport police that are specifically trained that carry weapons that are marked differently than the tsa? to we have that right? >> yes. as part of this review process, it was considered by all the stakeholders both private sector, airport and tsa and other federal agencies as to whether or not it made sense to arm tsa officers. and that was rejected. as it was rejected to give them bulletproof vests and that sort of thing. but simply to beef up the capability of armed law enforcement officers to respond more quickly and have a more

visible presence. jenna: now, what are the other recommendations, mandatory active shooter training and exercise, as we also mentioned, increased activity at ticket counters. i guess it sort of surprised me, tom, that that wasn't mandatory to begin with, or was it and this is just adding more in. >> this is actually adding more. but i think one of the dangers of the distance that we have between today and 9/11 is our guard goes down a little bit. we have a tendency to think we've returned to normalcy when, in fact, the bad guy's interest in the aviation sector continues. so this is a violent reminder of that interest, and the enhanced training requirements should bring our vigilance and what we call domain awareness, it should raise it. jenna: just real quick here, are you worried at all about communication? that was a big concern by local police officers when the tsa got badges, they were worried that people were going to confuse who's the authority at the airport, and now if we're adding

more armed guards and more personnel, are you worried about a bureaucratic issue? >> well, not really because, again, that was one of the things that was reviewed by the task force, and it was determined that that gives them a certain air of authority that is actually useful and not detrimental in carrying out their jobs. jenna: tom, great to have you today. thank you so much for your incite. >> thank you, jenna. jon: well, deeply troubling, that's what some are calling russia's military buildup along ukraine's border. the u.s. and the world are watching and waiting to see if vladimir putin is planning another land grab, his last one ruled illegal by the u.n. storm chasers getting some high-tech help for this tornado season and not a moment too soon. check out this funnel cloud spotted earlier this week. we'll take a look at some new equipment aimed at getting chasers closer to the action while still keeping them safe. when he agreed to cosign for his daughter's credit card...

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>> new developments on the situation, developing situation with russia on the border of ukraine. in the last hour congressman mike turner releasing a statement saying the number of additional russian troops along ukraine, the border along ukraine is now as high as 80,000. first we heard 20, 30,000. now we're at 80,000. concern that president vladmir putin may take three towns to make sure russia has a clear

land path to the crimea peninsula. we have former deputy assistant secretary of defense ronald reagan. those new numbers sound big. those are only numbers we have right now, kt. what do you make of that? >> it gives him options. putin could go in tomorrow. who is going to stop him? nato is not involved in this. ukraine is not a nato partner. the sanctions the united states has been put on, very insignificant, very little price to pay. i think putin probably calculated this is his moment. jenna: what do you think it means he doing is right now while the president, our president is in europe? >> calling his bluff. right in his face. putin understands that his leverage, his position is never going to be stronger than it is now. why? well the european economy is sputtering. it will not take economic sanctions that will punish their own economy. two, the europeans have disarmed, not disarmed but cut back on their military so much they're not a military threat

anymore. the united states is war-weary. the public doesn't want to do another war. putin understands any military option or military threat we might have doesn't exist anymore. jenna: does that mean we do nothing? >> just the opposite. president will talk about negotiate, diplomacy. if you're negotiating without leverage you're not negotiating. you're begging. hoping for the best. that is not what we should be doing. we could do a couple of things. we could reinforce our position in nato. we could say we'll rebuild. we're reconsidering that missile shield in poland and connect republic. we have every right to do that with the nato allies. other thing, go to putin, here is the long game. you played the long game for 15 years. you built up your economy. you restructured your government. rebuilt the military and now you think you will claim the great russian empire. not so fast. within five years, we pledge to the europeans, within five years you will become energy depent of

russia and develop natural resources in poland and ukraine, build the keystone pipeline and help countries south build pipelines -- jenna: so much is said vladmir putin, some are describing him as a madman. no, others are saying he is highly intelligent and his own goals. this is his own dream and driven from something within maybe we perhaps are underestimating. >> completely. jenna: why would any of that work? if he is a man so driven why would any of that work? >> here's why. you can't just roll over to say there is not any price for this. just because we'll not go to war there should be a price to be paid, he can pay it economically. that is how we won the cold war the first time, that is how we win it the second time. make i am pay that his economy could crumble next it few years. where does this lead? i fear it is going to nato. three countries, estonia, latvia, legitimate wayne gnaw. they are baltic states. they are members of nato. nato has article v, i call it

the three musketeers article, one for all, if any armed attack nato comes to their defense. jenna: what we've seen so far in ukraine is these unmarked troops. we know they're russian. they're russian special operators going into, special forces going into these areas but shots haven't been fired. and essentially they have gone in and just taken what they wanted so far. a few shots here and there, but no one is being killed. there are different reports. we're not seeing -- >> this is not an armed invasion. jenna: right. so with what nato is saying does it have to be an all-out battle for us to get involved? if someone walks in i think, legitimate wayne wans -- legitimate wayne juans want us to be here no one stop news that is, what happens if there are no tanks across-the-boarder, not sendings air courtroom. what happens in russia poises tens of thousands of troops, political intimidation, we'll raise price of your natural gas.

do all the different things. americans will not come help you and neither are rest of europeans of the political intimidation, economic blackmail may get putin what he wants. there will be a big bunch lawyers all debating whether that constitutes an armed attack. and as you have just pointed out, there were not guys with russian insignias in crimea. there may not be guys with russian insignia in eastern ukraine but you better believe they're russians. jenna: we're only ones splitting hairs. jon? jon: some controversy in the house of representatives, jenna. the house just pass ad year-long plan to continue full payments to doctors who see medicare patients. the house had been considering a 24% cut in reimbursement to those doctor who is see medicare patients. now they passed this fix, the doc fix, by voice vote which critics say is wrong and controversial because debate on the issue had been suspended.

by taking a voice vote they avoid putting members on the record. meantime the senate overwhelmingly passed a bill to aid ukraine imposing sanctions on russia. the also passing a new sanctions bill. both bodies of the legislature upset obviously at what russia has done there. and again, it comes against a backdrop of u.s. defense officials warning that russia appears poised to invade eastern ukraine. right now, serious remind they're tornado season is here. tornadoes touching down in some unlikely place this is week. images like this brought to us thanks to some brave storm chasers. well now there's new technology to keep them out of harm's way while they gather even better video and potentially life-saving data. garrett tenney live in marshall town, iowa with that. garrett? >> reporter: jon, doing that research and doing it safely is really what the key is. that is why we have dorothy.

she is just been built just 18 months ago this was a commercial van. talk about a makeover. now she is plated with steel armor plating. she has a hydraulic system which you can see is dropping down right now, which protects her from any debris getting blown around and she gets as close to a tornado as she can. this is all in the name of research though. that is why you can see cameras are here, on the front sides of the vehicles well as these hatches on the side that open up to have these other cameras. all this video is live streams to the web so people can track the tornadoes. but this slow motion camera, it is special and one of the things that makes it unique. i have zack here. zack sharp is the lead forecaster for the iowa storm-chasing network that built this. zack, tell us what is special and significant about this slow motion camera? >> we hope to document these tornadoes in slow motion to give that video to structural engineers and hopefully better benefit houses one day so we can

build tornado house resistant homes. that is our goal. >> we come around the back here. i want to show you the inside of the mobile command unit here. these back doors, these are heavy, 9,000 pounds all together here, this vehicle. now if you look inside of here, you can see they have got their mobile weather tracking station where they can see the storms, what's happening. they can post that video and updates online for people to follow and know, just when they need to take cover if those storms are there on the ground. now, here outside i've got a piece of the window as well. this is military-grade, half-inch, polly carbonate windows. they have gone all out here when they do the research they're doing it safe. with all of this, jon and jenna, it is amazing. they still get more than 10 miles per gallon. jon: don't want to be driving in that thing in a tornado but good for them if they're willing to

try it. garrett tenney. thank you. jenna: new chapter in a high-profile court battle as one family fight as hospital and state authorities for custody of their gravely-ill 15-year-old daughter. who is right in this complicated case? our legal panel takes it up next.

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which is why usaa is honored to help our members with everything from investing for retirement to saving for college. our commitment to current and former military members and their families is without equal. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... massachusetts and hospital on one side and family of christina pelletier on the order. for more than a year justina has been under temporary state custody with court ordered treatment in boston state hospital. now a judge awarded the state permanent custody of the child until she reaches 18, in a ruling chastising the parents

accusing them of mismanaging their daughter's treatment. justina's father was on "america's newsroom." >> every other patient could see their family, talk fully with them, do whatever they want. with her on mother's day, holidays, christmas, easter, totally isolated. couldn't see us. couldn't talk to us. so there has been a, little evil gameplan that has been going on by boston children's. jon: let's talk about it with doug burns, criminal defense attorney and rebecca rose woodland, a trial attorney. this is one of the stranger case that is i have ever seen. this couple took their daughter to the hospital, originally saying she had this genetic disease. the hospital took a look at her and said no. it's a psychological illness. and she needs psychological help. and low and behold all this time, the parents lose custody of their daughter. how does that happen? >> we don't know that many facts specifically because of the hipaa rules. hipaa is a very protective measure that the federal post

has taken on people's personal health. jon: your medical stuff has to stay private. >> has to stay private. so we can only kind of judge here what may have been going on. she was being treed by someone at tufts with the parents consent. they moved her to boston children's. at that point, boston children's took very aggressive stance against the family. we have to assume the doctors provided proper information to a judge and that the judge, you know, purposely made this ruling to help or to protect her. that is all we can really say at this point. jon: before we goat to you, judge, rebecca mentions the hipaa rules. yeah, in fact it is true, the hospital has not really been able to tell what is going on here. here is a state they gave us. they say this case was a complex matter presenting an array of challenges and obstacles we can not discuss out of respect for our parent's privacy and legal confidentiality requirements. we have been unable to provide a full and accurate picture of the case. so, yes, lou and linda

pelletier, the parents can go on tv say all they want. we don't really know what the hospital's point of view is. >> yeah. i mean any family lawyer will tell you that taking away custody of a child is a harsh and draconian situation. however i don't think you have to be a genius to figure out there is a bit after personality backstory here. what happened was the family butting heads hard with the hospital. in my view at least, could have been handled a lot differently. >> right -- jon: by everybody. >> we do hope though that best interests of the child was taken into account by the judge and none of personality conflicts apparently father argued. what father wouldn't argue for the best treatment of his child. it is hard to say who is right, who is wrong. i only hope the judge has really sat and made the best decision for this child's health. >> but i would note legally there is decent chance it might be reversed on further review in the courts. >> of course. but we still don't know what the health issues really are facing this child. >> i agree. jon: let's take a look at

another story out of washington, d.c. >> sure. jon: a guy named mark who was found guilty of violating the very strict washington, d.c. gun laws, because he was found to have muzzle loader bullets. that is just the lead shrug slug go in a muzzleloading rifle. found to have him in his possession. i shouldn't call bullets. they didn't have cartridges or powder attached to them. but they were the slugs. he was charged with having a single shotgun shell in his car. those charges were dropped but the guy was convicted. what is this all about, judge. >> rewind the movie 18 years when i was assistant atf attorney came in and mr. so-and-so had relics and hunting items decided not to prosecute. prosecutorial discretion. you don't have to prosecute every case. this is like charging somebody

going 55 1/2 miles per hour with a speeding ticket. he had one shell gone deer hunting they charged him. he could have gone across river virginia and maryland and bought it legally. makes so fence. this is complicated federal, state and local gun laws. this case never should have prosecuted. jon: same prosecutor, led david gregory, david gregory who held up this ammunition magazine on "meet the press,", that is illegal, according to d.c. law, it reads this. no person in the district shall possess, sell or transfer any large capacity ammunition feeding device, regardless of whether the device is attached to a firearm. who is more guilty of breaking the law here? >> that is ridiculous here. are we going to interpret a statute, a law, that strictly that a man with one shotgun case, come on? he actually moved now to virginia because he is so outrained by it. almost offensive. there is such crime in the

district of columbia, why don't they really focus on the people who have guns illegally, who are shooting people? he was just hunting and had -- >> the question why did they prosecute? do we know that? jon: he is businessman. said is ruined his business and reputation and keep fighting on. >> terrible. jon: rebecca rose woodland, doug burns. thank you. >> my pleasure, jon. jenna: college football players win ad about to unionize. what it means for the team and potentially all college athletes. here's a word you should keep in mind "unbiased". some brokerage firms are but way too many aren't. why? because selling thfunds makes them more money. which makes you wonder. isn't at a conflict? search "proprietary mutual funds". yikes!! then go to e*trade. we've got over 8,000 mutual funds and not one of them has our name on it. we're in the business of finding the right investments for u. e*trade. less for us, more for you. the fund's prospectus contains its investment objectives, risks, chargesexpenses and other importt information and should be re and considered carefully

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jenna: right now, big controversy in mississippi as the state could soon execute a woman for the first time in more than half a century. quite a story here. harris faulkner live at breaking news desk with more. >> jenna, it has been more than 70 years since mississippi execute ad woman. this case has certainly seen the share of controversy mainly

because somebody else has repeatedly confessed to the murder that michelle byron, the murder on woman on the screen is said of orchestrated. the state may put her to death sometime possibly this week. i'm seeing cross on the associated press wires this may not happen this week. they're still looking for a date. jurors found her guilty of shooting her abusive husband at her home in 1999. prosecutors claim she was attempting to collect $350,000 from his estate and life insurance policy. her son was the star witness for the prosecution at the trial. he was part of a plot and his friend fired the fatal shot. the son and friend were convicted of lesser charges and sent to jail. they're both out now. but here's a key point. that son, at one point confessed that he carried out the murder alone. byrom's defense attorneys never submitted his confession letter into evidence. a state supreme court justice criticized her defense team because of that letter she

received the mess egregious representation he has ever seen. byrom is 57 years old and waiting to see if they set the date of execution. back to you. jenna: we'll continue to watch it, harris, thank you. jon: a ruling could bring huge changes to keith e college athletics. the national labor relations board decided that northwestern university's football players can be considered employees rather than student athletes. fox business network rich edson live in washington with what this really means. rich? >> reporter: jon, legal analysts say this could begin a new era in college sports where union presidents negotiate pay and benefits for college athletes. regional director of the national labor relations board said college scholarship football players at northwestern university are employees, quote, not primarily students, unquote, ordering an election to give the players the opportunity to unionize. the ruling says, quote, the players spend 50 to 60 hours per week on the football duties during a one-month training camp. not only is this more hours than

many undisputed full-time employees work at their jobs and many more hours than the players spend on their studies. northwestern says it plans to appeal to the decision to the full nlrb board n a statement the university says, quote, northwestern believes strongly that our student athletes are not employees but students. unionization and collective bargaining are not the appropriate methods to address the concerns raised by student athletes. it is uncertain when or if other athletes or even northwestern football players will join a union. the appeal process will go through the nlrb and possibly along to the court system. also the nlrb decision only applies to northwestern players though could extend to other athletes at private universities. back to you. jon: could be big changes ahead. rich edson, thank you. jenna: serious concerns russia may be preparing to invade ukraine with report that is tens of thousands of russian troops massed along ukraine's border.

the breaking details moments away.

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>> thanks so much for joining us everybody. enjoy your thursday. america's news headquarters starts right now. the crisis is mounting overseas and how should we respond to vladimar putin's next move. welcome to hq. i am bill hemmer. >> and i am elizabeth. the latest show town with russians is hitting a nerve with americans. cording to the news poll, >> the foreign policy has pushed the disapproval rating to an all- time high. chris wallace. talk about the politics. >> people don't think president obama is handling it well and if they are requested if the countr