Skip to main content

tv   Happening Now  FOX News  May 22, 2014 8:00am-9:01am PDT

8:00 am
bill: so tomorrow we're going to talk about this whole unplugged thing, right? martha: right. we're going to unplug on memorial day. it's our program. we'll tell you about it tomorrow. bill: do i -- martha: can you do it? bill: do i have to? martha: yes, you have to. "happening now" starts right now. bye, guys. jon: we begin with a fox news alert and mounting frustrations over the va scandal and the efforts to investigate exactly what's happening there. this as we await gop reaction just minutes from now. good morning to you, i'm jon scott. patti ann: and i'm patti ann brown in today for jenna lee, and we are live on capitol hill as the veterans affairs committee holds an open hearing on the growing scandal with the chairman blasting the va, accusing the agency of hampering the investigation into claims of neglect and secret waiting lists that reportedly might have caused the deaths of dozens of veterans. >> i am tired of sending notices to the department and asking for
8:01 am
witnesses and being told by va, you don't need that witness, here's the witness we want to send. and they have done that over and over and over. patti ann: doug mckelway is live at the white house with more on this story. hi, doug. >> reporter: hi, patti ann. three senior officials from the department of veterans affairs did not show up for today's business meeting of the house committee on veterans affairs, even as they were asked to comply with a subpoena that means bring with you under the penalty of punishment. the committee wants thomas lynch, joan moody and michael huff to answer questions about the destruction of this fake wait list for patient care at the phoenix, arizona, va facility. here's the chairman. >> late last night i got a response back saying that they were not able to have the witnesses here in a 15-hour time limit. now, i get it. fifteen hours is pretty quick.
8:02 am
but i don't think i need to remind members of this committee that this is life or death. >> reporter: the committee's really frustrated because these documents were due on monday, and by the chairman's account, 30 va staffers had nine days to pore through this document request, they produced 201 not very revealing e-mails. >> but what they're doing now, is they are selectively giving us the e-mails that they want us to have. >> reporter: added that last night the committee received a new tranche of 3,000 e-mails, but they arrived at 2:30 in the morning and, basically, the committee has not had time to review those e-mails as of yet. this is all occurring as two democrats now, john barrow and david scott of georgia, join the republican course criticizing the president's lack of urgency in the va matter. >> i was very disappointed with president obama today. there was no urgency.
8:03 am
mr. president, we need urgency! we need you to roll up our sleeves and get into these hospitals! >> reporter: the danger for the obama administration is that the va represents an established form of government-controlled health care. now, we've all known that the va's had problems through many, many administrations both democratic and republican, but this time it's occurring at a time when the obama administration is establishing another form of government-controlled health care, that, of course, being obamacare. and the white house needs to ease fears that obamacare does not serve, rather, i should say, that the va does not serve as a role model, as a model for this new form of government health care that's beginning to manifest itself across the american spectrum. back to you. patti ann: doug mckelway, thanks. jon: for more on the va scandal and the political fallout, let's bring in charlie hurt and our good friend, juan williams. gentlemen, thanks for being with us. charlie, you know, the president spoke just about 23 hours ago.
8:04 am
it seemed like a fairly tepid response to what has gone on here, and he's been excoriated for that response even on the floor of the house as congressman david scott just pointed out, a democrat. what do you think about the president's approach to what's going on here? >> well, clearly, this thing has, you know, metastasized far beyond just a partisan problem. it's become something that he's taking incoming from both sides of the aisle, and i think a big reason for that is president obama campaigned, said this was a cause, one of the causes of his presidency. he said that yesterday, which is great, except we're six years into it, and he's claiming he's just finding out about how bad things are in the va just now. and it's sort of, it strains collegiallity -- credulity, considering the fact president obama ran his campaign in 2008 criticizing president george w.
8:05 am
bush for the va, saying that he was going to fix things back then. and so now for him to sort of saunter in and act like, oh, well, i'm just hearing about all this stuff now, and i'm going to send somebody out to do a study about it and everything, it's hard to believe. and it really does raise serious questions about his judgment and what really, and his priorities, what matters to him. because, you know, as doug mckelway pointed out, literally, people are dying over some of the mistakes going on here. jon: yeah, juan, as doug pointed out, there have been problems at the v.a. for years under republican and democrat administrations. but if as the president said this was one of the causes of his presidency, why hasn't it opinion fixed? >> well -- been fixed? >> look, i think you have to put this in some kind of context. i don't think anybody, republican or democrat, doubt that is the president has been heavily and emotionally invested in veterans and veterans affairs since he's been president. he's made a big show of it. some people might even say gone
8:06 am
overboard. my feeling is, look, there's a lot of political theater that plays into american support for our veterans. we love our veterans, we want to do what's right. but let's not, you know, play into this game which is to try to make the veterans into some kind of political football to be kicked around. the reality is that the v.a. health care service is pretty good. it's better, in fact, in its ratings than most of our normal health care system available to americans. the problem we have right now is access to that care and a potential scandal where people have been making up false data about how long the wait time is to get into that system. swrp jon i just -- jon: the president, you said, has made a pretty good show of it, and that's what some people are worried about, that for this white house it's all show, it's photo ops with veterans, it's mrs. obama, you know, pushing for veterans' needs, but yet letting the system sort of die on the vine. >> no, i don't think that anybody's saying they've let it die on the vine. and first of all, of course, the
8:07 am
president does photo ops, visits. but the idea that he has communicated very clearly that he cares about it, and even yesterday when people were complaining that they wanted, you know, they wanted some blood on the floor, they wanted veterans affairs secretary shinseki out, they wanted evidence of how he cares, i think the president was right to say let's find out what happened in phoenix, let's see if there was, in fact, corruption at a lower level or if it expands higher, comes to washington veterans affairs administration. but in terms of the show part, jon, i think that's part of the responsibility, to make it clear, to deliver a consistent message. and i think the president's done that over his time that he cares about our troops. jon: well, all right. charlie, i guess -- >> but that's exactly the problem, juan, is that we're six years in, and he's now saying that we need to find out what's wrong. well, if it was a priority, he would have found out what was wrong on day one, you know? there are, there's a lot of reporting out there right now showing just the extent to which
8:08 am
his incoming administration was warned of these problems by the transition team. they knew about this stuff the moment that he took the reins at the white house. >> charlie -- >> and the idea that it's only now he's getting around to finding out what's wrong is kind of shocking. jon: very quickly, juan. >> i think everybody knew there were problems and you want to fix any problem that exists, but in terms of the corruption of this secret list of, you know, not listing everybody who needs treatment, how long they can get treatment, that is not a longstanding -- the problem has been we have two wars, people coming back, we have unemployed veterans putting more pressure on the system, a an aging population of veterans. all of that adds to the pressure. i think there's enough reason for us to try to fix this, not to make it a political game. jon: as has been pointed out, it is 100% government-run and provided health care, and it's not working. juan williams, charlie hurt, thank you both. >> thanks, jon. patti ann: we're awaiting more
8:09 am
reaction from nancy pelosi after the house minority leader appointed a full complement of five democrats to the house select committee investigating the benghazi terror attack. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel is live on capitol hill with that story for us. hi, mike. >> reporter: hi, patti ann. house party leaders insist hillary clinton and john kerry can handle themselves just fine when it comes to the tough questions asked by the committee, but some less familiar names may need a little help. we were expecting to hear from house democratic leader nancy pelosi this hour, the day after she announced the democrats will fully participate in the benghazi select committee. the members she named, elijah couple, adam smith, tammy duckworth are the five members who will represent the democrats. here's cummings on their role. >> so i feel that i owe it to the families of ambassador stevens and the other brave americans who lost their
8:10 am
precious lived to bring some minimal level of balance to this process and to check false claims wherever they may arise. in short, ladies and gentlemen, i believe we need someone in that room to simply defend the truth. >> reporter: select committee chair trey gowdy who works closely with cummings on the house oversight committee praised cummings and said, quote: i look forward to working with him and the members of the committee toward an investigation and a process worthy of the american people and the four brave americans who lost their lives in service to our country. goudy and cummings continue conversations on how they plan to get to the bottom of the september 11th, 2012, benghazi terror attack. a select committee member told greta van susteren they will be thorough in their investigation. >> we'll talk to folks in the state department to find out if
8:11 am
it was preventable. we need to find out what decisions failed. we need to find out why they stuck with the story about the video for so long. >> reporter: and we expect to hear there house speaker john boehner at the bottom of the hour. benghazi, undoubtedly, will be one of the topics that comes up, and again, we expect to hear from house democratic nancy pelosi in a couple of hours. patti ann: mike emanuel live on capitol hill, thanks. and speaker john boehner is expected to discuss the house select committee on benghazi coming up at the bottom of the hour. of we will bring that to you live. one doctor on new york's long island is actually offering to do something about the growing v.a. crisis. dr. martin handler of new york is now offering cardiac care to veterans for free if they don't have insurance. and he says he already has other doctors and specialists who are willing to do the same. dr. handler is, in fact, hoping his effort will become a national movement to help veterans neglected by their government. jon: some new information now on the boston marathon terror
8:12 am
attacks with court documents revealing that the bombs were put together using toy car parts and christmas lights. molly line is live in boston with some more of that new information. molly? >> reporter: well, jon, these new filings detail what prosecutors are essentially responding to which are lawyers for dzhokhar star nave attempting to keep the statements made in the hospital out of his trial. the goth is essentially arguing that the fbi had the right to question tsarnaev while he was in the hospital because they were aiming to protect the public, alleging that he committed one of the most sophisticated and successful terrorist attacks on american soil since september 11th. prosecutors argued the circumstances gave law enforcement strong reason to believe the public was at risk from additional bomb withs, bombers or bomb plots. the government writes: the marathon bombs were constructed using improvised fuses made from christmas lights and improvised remote controlled detonators
8:13 am
fashioned from model car parts. these relatively sophisticated devices would have been difficult for the tsarnaevs to fabricate successfully without training or assistance from others. now, concerns were also raised regarding how dzhokhar and his older brother, tamerlan, built the bombs. the government writes. >> reporter: searches didn't actually yield any traces of black powder, at least strongly suggesting to the government that the tsarnaevs may have had help from outside sources. prosecutors essentially argue that they had the right to question tsarnaev because they were concerned about other attacks being imminent. jon? jon: molly line, thank you. patti ann: major developments in the hunt for hundreds of kidnapped schoolgirls in nigeria. what we're learning about the u.s. military effort to bring
8:14 am
them back alive. and prosecutors getting ready to try a man for the murder of his wife more than 50 years ago and, get this, the key witness is dead. our legal panel takes up that case. plus, a terrifying scene as a tour bus collides with a big rig. what police are saying caused the deadly accident. >> at one point i felt it kind of going into the dirt and to the embankment at an angle, and i was kind of preparing for it to flip. when i found out about the casualties, i felt very, very lucky that i i survived. in ok. honey bunches of oats. ching! mmmm! mmmm! mmmm! wow! it's the oats. honey. yeah. honey bunches of oats. this is a great cereal.
8:15 am
8:16 am
that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, they could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. call today to request a free decision guide. with these types of plans,
8:17 am
you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients... plus, there are no networks, and virtually no referrals needed. join the millions who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp... and provided by unitedhealthcare insurance company, which has over 30 years of experience behind it. with all the good years ahead, look for the experience and commitment to go the distance with you. call now to request your free decision guide. o0 c1 i've got a to-do list and five acres of fresh air. ♪ top three tools -- hammer, screwdriver, front loader. happiness is a drive-over mower deck. a john deere dealer can teach tractors to anybody. [ don ] in the right hands, an imatch quick-hitch could probably cure most of the world's problems. [ male announcer ] that's how we run, and nothing runs like a deere. visit your dealer or johndeere.com/1family.
8:18 am
patti ann: deadly violence in ukraine today ahead of the presidential elections sunday. fox news con confirming 11 government soldiers were killed. our greg talcott is streaming live from eastern ukraine with the very latest. hi, greg. >> reporter: it is the deadliest day for ukrainian forces here since the clashes began. the very latest figures that we are getting is it looks like 13 ukrainian soldiers were killed, as many as 33 were injured when pro-russian militants attacked that checkpoint. just one of several clashes we have seen in the region as rebels try to derail those crucial presidential elections planned for this weekend. and that is not the only way they're trying to disrupt this vote. we were at an election office today where armed separatists
8:19 am
burst in, threatened the staff and hauled away election materials including voter rolls and id cards as well as an official from the office. police were at building but, apparently, did little to stand in the way. we spoke with the leader of the group, he branded sunday's elections as illegal. here is a bit more of my back and forth with him. take a listen. this is ukraine, and this is ukrainian election material, how can you take them away? [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: it's people's republic, it's not ukraine. >> reporter: this is just one of several attacks we have seen on election offices here, patti ann, and the workers are really on the front lines. we spoke to one brave woman at that office, and she says she just wants the people here to be heard. back to you. patti ann: greg talcott streaming live from ukraine, thank you. be.
8:20 am
jon: we are going to be back with more "happening now" in just a moment, including an update. if i told you that a free ten-second test
8:21 am
8:22 am
could mean less waiting for things like security backups and file downloads you'd take that test, right? well, what are you waiting for?
8:23 am
you could literally be done with the test by now. now you could have done it twice. this is awkward. check your speed. see how fast your internet can be. switch now and add voice and tv for $34.90. comcast business built for business. ♪ ♪ jon: a sad but incredible story of bravery out of southern california today. a girl who was kidnapped when she was only 15 years old is finally free now. she said she was held at this apartment by her mother's former boyfriend. just days ago the woman, now 25, finally got the courage to contact police. this morning another kidnapping victim, elizabeth smart, saying she is, quote, so happy to hear about the young woman's escape. william la jeunesse live in l.a. with the latest on this story. william? >> reporter: imagine this
8:24 am
nightmare, jon. just months after moving to the u.s. illegally to be with her mother, this 15-year-old is drugged, kidnapped, imprisoned, raped, forced to get married and have a child. shelyed here in -- she lived here in santa ana. when her mother's boyfriend followed her across the street to a park. speaking no english and knowing no one, she claims to have a headache. the boyfriend gives her five pills. drugged, hours later she wakes up locked in a garage. over the next two years he treats her like a prisoner. twice she tries to escape and is beaten. they moved to four different apartments. he changes pote of their identity -- both of their identity allowing them to work together as janitors. she's forced to marry in '07 and has a child in 2012. >> tells her that her mother's not looking for her, she's on her own. now, you've got to remember this is a 15-year-old girl who's only been in the country for six
8:25 am
months. she doesn't know what to do, she's in a strange city. he's all she's got. that's when the brainwashing starts, that's when he starts to do what he does. >> reporter: now, fearing deportation, she does not go to police until, while living here in bell, she reaches out to a sister on facebook who urges her to come forward. yesterday she did. while neighbors said the couple appeared happy, the girl said the last night to reporters that she lived in fear, 25 years old now and missed her family. garcia is being held on a $1 million bail, will be arraigned today on charges of kidnapping and rape. back to you. jon: wow, what a story. ten years she was held? unbelievable. >> reporter: that's right. jon: william la jeunesse, thank you. patti ann: well, facebook knows just about everything about you if you're on it, and now the social network might be hearing and watching what you're doing. lauren simonetti joins us now to tell us about this new feature, lauren, hi.
8:26 am
>> reporter: a little scary, patti ann. facebook has this new feature in its mobile app that some are calling useful and others creepy. regardless, it highlights the eaves eavesdropping nature of our smartphones using built-in microphones to figure out what music or shows we have on in the background. so in the coming weeks, if you turn the feature on, it will tell you what you're listening to and then share it on your news feed as if your friends care. and by the way, the song in the video that we're looking at now is the understanding by jones street station. why is facebook doing this? it wants to be the site where we talk about pop culture, and the company reassures us saying, quote, no sound is stored, and you will always get to choose whether row post to your friends. but the worry is what's facebook going to do with this information? is it going to sell it to advertisers? maybe even tv rating agencies? we don't know. it's the constant snooping by
8:27 am
technology in our lives, patti ann. patti ann: yeah. all good questions you raised there. lauren simonetti, fox business, thanks. >> or or good to see you. jon: the u.s. is now using eyes in the sky in the hunt for the hundreds of kidnapped schoolgirls in nigeria. the latest on that and a live report. patti ann: plus, prosecutors gearing up for the trial of a man accused of killing his wife more than 50 years ago. and their star witness is dead. our legal panel takes a look at this unusual case. and we want with to hear from you, what stories are you watching today? you get to choose the news in our second hour of "happening now." our live chat is up and running. send us your thoughts at foxnews.com/happeningnow, click on america's asking to join the discussion. okay, listen up! i'm re-workin' the menu.
8:28 am
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™. captain: and here's a tip. bellman: thanks, captain obvious. [ bottle ] ensure®. when you save money on hotel rooms, it's just like saving money on anything else that costs money. like shoes, textiles, foreign investments, spatulas, bounty hunters, javelins...
8:29 am
8:30 am
8:31 am
jon: new developments in the search for hundreds of nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped last month by terrorists. now 80 u.s. troops are in chad. the team is handling a predator drone that's flying over the area to search for those missing girls. as we await a classified briefing in the house just over an hour from now. lawmakers will hear from members of the fbi and state and defense departments on all of this. national security correspondent jennifer griffin live for us at the pentagon. >> reporter: pentagon officials tell us the 80 air force personnel will not be involve inside ground operations to rescue the girls, they will be sent with one mission, to fly a predator drone over the area
8:32 am
where the girls are believed to be held by bow coe boko haram. the predator will allow the u.s. military to fly lower than the global hawk that was previously being used. the drone team will be based many neighboring chad which is closer to the area in northern nigeria where the girls were kidnapped. the unwillingness to spend u.s. special operations ground units and conduct a real search for the girls once the u.s. military locates them is eliciting bipartisan frustration on capitol hill. >> so i want, i don't see why that once we get these girls free, i'm going to tell you, for me, i want drones, i want something. because they don't belong on this earth. >> it is a struggle for the nigerian military to cope with this threat. and that's led some to say that we should not get involved. but it tells me otherwise. it tells me that u.s.
8:33 am
involvement is critical. >> reporter: nigerian schools closed today to protest the nigerian government's failure to launch a meaningful rescue of the schoolgirls and to protect students across the country. families are still searching the morgue for their children killed when a twin set of suicide bombings left more than 170 dead two days ago in a separate boko haram attack. jon: that is an awful organization. thank very much, jennifer griffin at the pentagon. patti ann: well, prosecutors in louisiana are getting ready to try a man for the murder of his life more than 50 years ago and despite the fact that their key witness died this week. still, they plan to use the dead man's videotaped testimony instead. the suspect's name is felix veil, he's accused of killing his wife in 1962. he is also a suspect in the kiss appearances of -- dis appearances of his common law wife in 1933 and his last wife in 1984. joining us now is the
8:34 am
investigative reporter who helped to break the story with the claire onledger in jackson, mississippi. -- chair onledger. 50 years after her death was ruled accidental, it was reporting by your paper that led investigators to reopen this case. so what were the facts that you exposed? >> well, the autopsy report showed that she had a bruise on the back of her head and a scar four inches in her mouth, and that's what that autopsy report showed. and they re-examined it and determined it was, in fact, a homicide. patti ann: yeah. and last june there was a preliminary hearing prompted by the reopening of the case. and at that hearing an old friend of flexion vail's -- felix vail's testified that he was on the search boat when they found her body and she did, indeed, have a scarf stuffed in
8:35 am
her mouth. now a video is apparently going to be allowed at trial even though that friend has since passed away. we're going to discuss that next with our legal panel. jerry, tell us, what other evidence did your paper report on? i understand vail's son said something interesting. >> ye. felix vail's son, bill vail, made a number of statements. he said when he was a child, he overheard his dad say that he had killed his mother. and he actually told police at the time, this was when he was 8 years old, and still nothing happened. felix vail's family was friends with the district attorney there in lake charles, louisiana. patti ann: interesting. and is there a different d.a. now? is there -- >> yes, yes. there's an entirely different administration, entirely different district attorney, and they've been very, you know,
8:36 am
working very hard on this case. they just interviewed ex-wife of felix vail's the other day who told them she saw a secret compartment that he had in his volkswagen where he kept surgical saws s. so some of the things like that have led to belief could there have been other victims? not only the possible ones we're talking about, but other women. and he literally lived all over the country from california to florida, was in new york city, i know, so literally all over the country. patti ann: yeah. you know, some people are calling him a suspected serial killer at this point. interesting, you say they interviewed an ex-wife. so this was a fourth wife? >> yes. he married -- i've heard anywhere between 6 and 12 times although i've only found evidence of three different marriages. patti ann: all right. interesting stuff. thank you so much, jerry mitchell, with the clarion ledger in jackson, mississippi. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. of. patti ann: during the
8:37 am
preliminary exam last june to establish cause for indictment, there was key testimony from vail's former friend, isaac. well, abshire died three years ago at age 91 of kidney problems. so what happens now? let's talk with our legal panel. doug burns and arthur aidala. in this videotaped testimony last year, he said he was on the search boat that found mary vail's body, he saw the scarf stuffed in her mouth. so for starters, how crucial is abshire's testimony? >> well, i would say it's pretty crucial. i also raised my eyebrows when the reporters just mentioned one of his ex-wives had a trap door in the car. when you do what doug and i do, usually the clients that have a trap door in the car, that has to do with drugs. it's pretty fascinating. they have to turn on the air conditioner, the radio and the turn signal at the same time, and some door opens. here, i mean, if this woman gets to take the stand and say, oh,
8:38 am
yeah, this is where he kept the tools to cut people up, that's damning evidence. justice scalia, who is not usually a friend of criminal defendants, came down with a big decision, it's called crawford is the case where you have to be able to defend and have to be able to confront his witness. the witnesses against you. it's a fundamental part of our constitution. so when you're dealing with a dead man, it's going to be interesting to see how they get around that requirement. patti ann: well, doug, there might be a way around it. typically this would be considered hearsay and you can't use it, but this was not a deposition. this was actually testimony taken during a hearing, and vail's defense attorney did, in fact, have a chance to question this witness. >> yes. arthur's right about the crawford be case, it was a big step forward in terms of confrontation, but it's a hearsay exception when a witness is unavailable, and when you're dead, you're clearly permanently unavailable. and so the point is where arthur's also right is even if
8:39 am
the witness is permanently unavailable, they still have to have some reliability like a court hearing. here it was a preliminary hearing, and the defense lawyer had a crack at the -- >> did he? that was something i didn't think. >> yeah. >> the way they'll get around it is if defense attorney had the opportunity to cross-examine, were you drunk, were you sober, where were you standing, this is all in the judge's discretion. not black and white. the judge can still say i'm not comfortable. the jury isn't here to see the cross-examination. so the judge has a lot of -- >> right. the other really big issue is what we call prior bad acts. in other words, this case is 52 years old. patti ann: yes. >> it's going to be difficult on many levels to prove he did it. the reporter said, look, she had a bruise on her hand can and a scar -- >> scarf in her mouth. >> ostensibly choked, but that doesn't prove who did it. the judge is allowing in evidence, arthur, of two other
8:40 am
missing females, and that's going to be really prejudicial to the defendant, but at the same time it's going to help the prosecutor -- >> is this three wives thing? >> yeah, that tape of thing. patti ann: isn't that, arthur, something that would be used in appeal -- >> oh, 100%. patti ann: you can't wring in these other -- because he's not even charge with the other disappearances. >> let's say he did it. he's going to be incarcerated through the course of this trial, an appeal will take three or four years before they're all perfected so, yes, this is all about an appeal. they're probably trying this case, the defense attorneys, to just see if the judge has any missteps so there is an appeal. patti ann: right. >> it's very hard always, i mean, doug's the greatest guy out there -- patti ann: of course he is. >> to prove a 52-year-old murder is not an easy thing to do. patti ann: doug, one of the things during the hearing that the defense attorney was hammering on was the fact that this was initially ruled an accidental death. now, you know, this reporter
8:41 am
said there was some kind of a cozy relationship there between the defendant and some people in law enforcement, but how hard is it? it was another coroner took a look at the evidence 50 years later, looked at the pictures and the autopsy report and concluded it was a homicide. >> arthur mentioned the peterson case. drew peterson, not scott peter zonks the former cop in kwreu8. and his wife, kathleen valve owe's, drowning was ruled accidental, then it was changed. i don't really think that's a burden that can't be overcomed, the fact that they relooked at it. normally the argument is don't bring in other cases because if you can prove this case, prove it. >> right. you talked about appeals, that's an area that's ripe for appeal. because they don't want jurors to convict someone on this case because of things they've heard about he's done in his past, in other matters. so judges are very cautious before they let in prior bad acts before a jury trying a different case. patti ann: all right. interesting stuff.
8:42 am
arthur aidala, doug burns, thank you for joining us. >> my pleasure. jon: breaking news from capitol hill on benghazi and nancy pelosi's decision to appoint five democratic members to the committee that will investigate. we'll bring you details on when this committee is to begin its work. ♪ ♪ avo: wherever your journey takes you the expedia app helps you save with mobile-exclusive deals
8:43 am
download the expedia app text expedia to 75309 expedia, find yours c'mon, you want heartburn? when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast, with tums. heartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact. and goes to work in seconds. ♪ tum, tum tum tum... tums!
8:44 am
8:45 am
8:46 am
patti ann: let's check out what's coming up on "outnumbered" at the top of the hour. sandra and kimberly, what do you have for us? >> hey there. one school district under fire for its teaching methods, teachers comfort girls when they make a mistake and speak more firmly to boys. >> plus, has liberal hollywood fallen victim to the gender pay gap? the top ten list of richest actors that's missing big female stars. >> gotta fix that. and what's in a name? a lot when it comes to being faithful. >> plus our hashtag one luckily guy at the top of the hour, you never know who it'll be. patti ann: i am intrigued. kimberly, sandra, thanks. jon: we are awaiting new reaction this hour on the democrats' decision to
8:47 am
participate fully in the house select committee investigating what happened in benghazi. we're awaiting a news conference at this hour from the house minority leader, nancy pelosi, after she appointed five democrats to that committee. joining us now with some reaction, basil smichael, also angela mcglowan. there was all kinds of back and forth about whether democrats should participate at all, whether they should put one person on the committee or a full complement, nancy pelosi decided to go the whole banana. [laughter] what do you think about that? >> you know what? i think it was a great decision on her part because, ultimately, what the democrats want to do is be a conversation. if the democrats had not been seated on this committee, republicans would have an unfettered opportunity to push out their argument, their talking points without the democrats really being able to
8:48 am
defend the white house, quite frankly, and defend the state department. so this was, i think, a good decision by nancy pelosi. the white house said that selected, you know, they would a-- that she could, they would abide by whatever, but she made the right decision. >> she had to do that. it was john boehner who was the true patriot here that made the decision to do the select committee, jon, because the government failed us. the state department did not give us answers, we had several congressional hearings that didn't give us answers, and it is government's job to protect the consumer. so while basil is talking about how great nancy pelosi is and the democrats, she went against boehner in the beginning saying that this was all political. so i'm glad she's followed boehner's suit. jon: do you think, basil, that this can be a fact-finding investigation or, you know, given the tone of the thing to this point is it just going to be, you know, red versus blue talking points and pointing fingers?
8:49 am
>> well that, you know, that's clearically the concern -- clearly the concern, and representative elijiah cummings who's been a very vocal, who's clearly been very vocal on the committee and butted heads with its chairman, i believe folks were talking to him pretty early on to try to make sure that there was a clear path towards getting some real facts and data on the table. but i think you're going to see two very different styles. i think on the one hand the republicans are going to try to impugn the white house's track record in the military and impeach some of the presidential appointees in terms of their talking points right after benghazi. but i also think on the other side you're going to have democrats that are going to be looking for whether or not there's actually any new information here. because otherwise they'll blow it off as being old information, old hat. if there is -- >> we believe that -- >> but if there's new information, they'll say that the -- >> you're giving a monologue. >> no, finally, i'll just say
8:50 am
that with new information, they'll be able to say to the republicans in the armed services committee weren't doing their due diligence early on. jon: all right, angela. >> first of all, you have elijiah cummings who's on the oversight committee that darrell issa is a chairman, also jim jeffers that who's on that -- i'm sorry, jim jordan who's on that committee. linda sanchez, judiciary. she's a democrat. but then you have lynn westmoreland who's on the select intelligence committee. i believe these members of congress are not going to go after red or bluish shoes, because the military -- blue shz issues, and we have americans that died. jon: let's hope they can get to the bottom of it. basil, angela, thank you. >> thank you. patti ann: violence and chaos as a military coup abolishes the constitution after months of deadly protests in the streets of one country. we'll have a live report in moments. also trapped in the himalayas, a hiker falls 70 feet off a
8:51 am
mountain and lives to tell the tale. we'll have his incredible survival story next.
8:52 am
dog: what, what? mattress discounters what, what? mattress discounters memorial day sale ends monday? but mattress discounters has the largest selection of memory foam mattresses under one "roof." comforpedic, icomfort, optimum, and wow, four years interest-free financing on the entire tempur-pedic cloud collection, even a queen size sealy gel memory foam mattress for just $497. better hurry! the memorial day sale ends monday. ♪ mattress discounters
8:53 am
trwith secure wifie for your business. it also comes with public wifi for your customers. not so with internet from the phone company. i would email the phone company to inquire
8:54 am
as to why they have shortchanged these customers. but that would require wifi. switch to comcast business internet and get two wifi networks included. comcast business built for business. jon: right now an american climber sharing his incredible story. johnal of kentucky was making his way up a himalayan peak in nepal when he fell 70 feet down into a yes vas. he was hurt, breaking five ribs, an arm, and dislocating his shoulder. it took him nine hours, but he managed to crawl out of the hole and then get back to his tent. he texted for help on his satellite messenger, but with it took rescuers until the next morning to get a helicopter to him. he checked out okay at the hospital, he is already making plans for his next climb. it's to take place next month in peru.
8:55 am
patti ann: well, thailand's army is taking over the government just days after imposing martial law. the military now suspending thailand's constitution. the coup coming after nearly seven months of anti-goth protests -- anti-government protests and failed political negotiations. david piper is streaming now live from bangkok. hi, david. >> reporter: hi, patti ann. yes, the tlai military has only been in control for a few hours, but they've been tightening their grip on power. it's been a very public coup. the generals have been meeting for two days with all the different political factions. when it seemed apparent to them no breakthrough could be achieved, they encircled the building, and the politicians were then taken away by soldiers. the country's army chief said in a statement broadcast on national television they're taking power to restore stability and order. soldiers quickly moved on the anti-government yellow shirt camp and ordered them to close it. they also encircled the
8:56 am
pro-government red shirt camp on the outskirts of the capital and are reported to have fired shots in the air to try to get them to disperse. some of their leaders have warned they would start a civil war if the military took power. there's also a overnight curfew here in lapping cock at this time -- bangkok that spreads nationwide. that's not good for the all-important thai tourism industry. patti ann: david piper in bangkok, thanks. jon: we are awaiting new comments from house minority leader nancy pelosi on the select committee investigating the terror attacks on americans in benghazi. democrats will participate, no doubt she will get quite a few questions on this. we'll have the news from that. plus, a so-year-old takes grandma's -- 10-year-old takes grandma's -- 10-year-old takes grandma's truck on a joyride. didn't end well. we'll tell you that coming up. book any flight or hotel
8:57 am
and if you find it for less we'll match it and give you fifty dollars back that's the expedia guarantee
8:58 am
8:59 am
patti ann: so a 10-year-old boy took his grandmother's truck for a joyride in texas.
9:00 am
two men noticed boy driving erratically and called 911. he was at a doctor's appointment with his grandfather and argument with his sibling, the boy took off. he eventually crashed into a railing. jon: that is a the good news. we'll see you back here in an hour. "outnumbered" starts right now. >> this is "outnumbered." i'm sandra smith here today, harris faulkner, kimberly guilfoyle, kirsten powers, today's #oneluckyguy dominic di-natale and he is outnumbered. and here from l.a. >> this will be a baptism of fire. >> you've been all over the world for this network. >> that is incredible. i live in l.a. these days. night and day where someplaces i've been before. if only because of the weather. >> you could have brought

181 Views

info Stream Only

Uploaded by TV Archive on