thank you so much for joining us, am sandra smith. >> rick: i'm rick leventhal. >> sandra: "happening now" starts right now. >> melissa: heartfelt support pouring and now for senator john mccain. hello and welcome to "happening now" ." i melissa francis. >> heather: and i'm heather childress. john mccain's camp says he is in good spirits. we woke up this morning and received the news that the senator and his family are reviewing treatment options, which has doctors essay may include chemotherapy and radiation. president trump, just one of those sending messages of support to the longtime arizona senator after the president gave an extraordinary interview to "the new york times" yesterday, and which he took aim at several high-ranking officials at the justice department and he

strongly criticized attorney general jeff sessions for recusing himself from the russia investigation. all this while president trump is also turning up the heat on some senate republicans, as they tried to chart a new way forward on health care. >> we have no choice. we have to repeal and replace obamacare. we can repeal it, but the best is repeal and replace and let's get going. i intend to keep my promise, and i know you will too. >> melissa: john roberts is live on the north lawn. john? >> melissa, thanks very much. a lot to digest today, including a late breaking story from bloomberg that the special counsel investigation into russia has now expanded to include president trump's business dealings. the president warned just yesterday in an interview with "the new york times" that the special counsel should keep his nose out of that, so we'll see what the reaction from the

president is here. meantime, in a completely unexpected, but not out of character move in that interview with "the new york times" yesterday, the president throwing his attorney general under the bus, backing the bus up over him, dragging him out, and then throwing him back under the bus and running him over again, suggesting that if jeff sessions ever gave the president he would recuse himself from the russian investigation, the president would have never given him the job. listen to what president trump told "the new york times" yesterday. >> sessions should have never recused himself. if you knew that he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job and i would have picked somebody else. >> sessions may be forced to redesign because he does not have the confidence of the president any longer. in a press conference just a few minutes ago, sessions indicated that he plans to stick around. listen here. >> i have the honor of serving

as attorney general, it's something that goes beyond any thought i would have ever had for myself. we love this job, we love this department, and i plan to continue to do so as long as it's appropriate. >> in "the new york times" interview yesterday, the president also went off on the deputy attorney general, rod rosenstein saying he was upset when he discovered that rosenstein is from baltimore, the president lamenting that there aren't many republicans there. rosenstein was asked about that at the press conference. listen here. >> i was proud to be here yesterday, i'm proud to be here today, i'll be proud to work here tomorrow. >> the president's rant about the attorney general and deputy attorney general detracted attention from a strong sales pitch that he met on health care yesterday during a high-pressure lunch with senators, the president twisting some arms thing the senators should do for the american people and their constituents what they had been promising to do for the past seven years. listen here. >> i've been here just six

months. i'm ready to act, i have pen in hand, believe me. i'm sitting in that office. i have pen in hand. you've never had that before. for seven years, you've had an easy route, will repeal, will replace and he's never going to sign it. i'm signing it. it's a little bit different. >> the congressional budget office gave components some new ammunition last night in their projection of what the repeal only would be. the cbo estimated that an additional 32 million people would be without health insurance, though it would reduce the deficit by some $473 billion. melissa, that does not include any type of measure to replace obamacare, simply to repeal it. i've got to tell you, after with the president of "the new york times" yesterday about the special counsel robert mueller better keep his hands off my business dealings, what we just learned from bloomberg could really change the calculation for the white house today. >> melissa: they are now

looking into his business dealings. i loved your description, he ran him over with a bus, he backed him up, and then he pulled him out, and threw him under the bus again. very colorful. >> you can imagine what it's like to be the attorney general. >> melissa: locally, i can't imagine. it seems horrible. thank you. >> heather: president trump lasting special counsel robert mueller come as you just heard they are in bombshell "new york times" report. mr. trump said mr. mueller was running ripe with conflict of interests and warned that he would cross a redline if they dove into trump family finances unrelated to russia. he left open the possibility, over an investigation that had taken a political toll and the six months since he took office. we'll talk more about this with daniel, he is the editor for the

washington beacon. thank you for joining us. daniel, you probably just heard this breaking development, that john roberts was reporting for us there, that there is this article and is being reported by bloomberg at this point, it's breaking news, that mueller has said that they will probe trump business transactions. given the response we've already received from the president and his "new york times" report, what do you think the response will be now? >> you wonder if the president will attempt to remove mueller from his job. this has been rumored for a long time and this keeps escalating and you wonder what the endgame will be for the president. on the one hand, the president is threatened. any investigation into russia should be narrowly focused on that. it seems as though he's frustrated that some elect mueller has this broad mandate and broad powers to look into whatever he wants. on the other hand, if there is

some sort of evidence or probable cause, you would expect an investigator to look into things. you can see the president's frustration very, very clearly in this near times interview. >> heather: is interesting the timing of this interview given the rest of the conversation that went on with "the new york times," here's another quote that we can show you. when he was asked specifically about the investigation and if it would cross a redline. mr. trump said "i would say yes yes." he would not say what he would do about it, he did say i would think that's a violation. look, this is just about russia. >> for now, this is the president venting his frustrations, so he's venting his frustrations, he is not actually asking jeff sessions to resign. maybe he will, maybe he won't. this is him venting his frustration at the special prosecutor, robert mueller. he's not asking for him to

leave, or resign. maybe he will, maybe he won't, but there is a difference between the president venting and the president acting. so far, he's just venting and it's interesting and compelling, it gives a real window into what he's thinking, but again, there is this difference that is very, very important at this moment. >> heather: t think the news to jeff sessions, was that new information to him that received via this near times interview or he probably had heard this before the president? >> according to reports, he had offered his resignation a month ago or maybe longer ago in the president did not accept his resignation, so if you are jeff sessions, you think about my resignation is on the table. if president trump wants me to resign, he'll asked me to resign and i will. it's not a big deal or maybe it is a big deal and it's embarrassing, but those things are sort of laid out. right now, he's just venting frustrations that he's had built up and he's publicly and

privately expressed and that jeff sessions is aware of. there's nothing jeff sessions can do about it. there's nothing he should be doing. the president is frustrated with the whole world is against him and even his most loyal people that he expects loyalty from and this is him lashing out. >> heather: did it surprise you that he granted such a wide-ranging interview question mike i was struck by elements where he was trying to talk about the positive things that he's done and he seemed to me as not just the president of united states, but as a person that wanted to say, there are some other things that are going on that i've done that are good. >> traditionally, a president would have an interview and would be very narrowly focused on what the white house was trying to push at the time, in this case, health care and he would say, this is what we're trying to do on health care, these are the things and it would be a short interview with reporters that he trusted.

president trump is a little different. he's willing to talk to people. he's asked about anything and he'll say very honestly what's on his mind. i think that's different, so and then sense, surprising. on the other hand, it is certainly in character and that's how he got here and that's one of the things he's been doing for a long time now. >> heather: he came across as very human and that's one of the reasons he was voted into office. thank you so much for joining us daniel, appreciate your insight. bye. >> melissa: o.j. simpson, back in the spotlight today as the parole board repairs to decide his fate. simpson will appear before the parole board and less than two hours from now and he is expected to learn today if he will be released from a nevada prison. speak out the white elephant in the room is the 1995 acquittal for the crimes, the alleged crimes that were committed in

los angeles. although they are not supposed to take that into consideration, it is the white elephant in the room and it always will be. >> melissa: claudia cowan is live in carson city, nevada. everybody is watching this. >> it is a big day, the parole board here in nevada has been preparing for this day for many months. this is the only parole hearing happening here today. as you mention, and less than two hours, o.j. simpson will make his case from his prison via closed circuit tv, just as he did four years ago at his first hearing when he was granted parole on some of the charges. it takes for parole commissioners to agree between them, these four have you late four decades of experience and they have a checklist. they do a risk assessment, assigning points from getting factor is whether simpson has completed treatment programs, also take into account, the violent nature of his crimes. remember, firearms were involved in that las vegas robbery and he was convicted with a gun

enhancement. they will ask him how he has spent his time behind bars, his plans for once he gets out, and according to his former lawyer, they're going to want to hear him apologize. >> what the parole board wants to hear, more than anything, is that the individual who is sitting in front of them who is an inmate, is remorseful for his actions, he understands he committed a crime, he accepts responsibility for his crime. >> by all accounts, simpson has been a model prisoner and if he does get out on parole in october, he'll have a place to live and a steady income, thanks to his pension from the nfl. all of these are points in his favor. if these commissioners here can't reach a unanimous decisio decision, if it ends up being a 3-3 tie, then simpson can try again in january, but if it is shot down, simpson will have to wait as much as three more years

before he can appear before this parole board again. melissa? >> melissa: claudia, thank you and keep it right here on fox for live coverage of the o.j. simpson parole hearing. shepard smith will be anchoring from the fox news deck and that starts right here at 1:00 p.m. eastern. >> heather: i'm thinking he will get released. >> melissa: yeah, that's what you hear from almost everyone, we'll wait and see. >> heather: will have it for you right here. meantime, late night on capitol hill as a group of senators met behind closed doors, trying to rescue that health care bill and the results of this 11th hour attempt, we'll talk about that live to a senator who was at that meeting. >> people are hurting. an action is not an option and frankly, i don't think we should leave town, unless we have a health insurance plan, unless we can give our people great health care because we are close. are very close. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

>> melissa: fox news alert on a new attempt to resuscitate the sentence health care bill is two dozen senators work into the night to try and resolve their differences about repealing and replacing obamacare, but not much progress after the closed-door session, we are hearing. this was after the president promised to do his part. >> i'm ready to act, i have been in hand, believe me. i'm sitting in that office, i have pen in hand. you never had that before. for seven years, you had an easy route, we'll repeal, we'll replace, and he's never going to sign it. but i'm signing it. it's a little bit different. but i'm ready to act. >> melissa: joining is now a senator bill cassidy, republican from louisiana who is also a doctor. he sits on the senate finance and health -- my goodness, you are busy. he was at the meeting last night. let's get right to it, tell us,

what went on inside? >> first, people listed their objections, what would have to change in order for them to get to yes and after that, we discussed how to answer those. what i pushed and what senator graham has pushed as well is returning power to the states. give it to the patient, give it to the states, we think it's a better way. that may be common ground. >> melissa: i have your amendment in front of me. looking at some of the details, you said it would be requirement covering pre-existing conditions, that that would be maintained, would you allow states to maintain a waiver to not honor pre-existing conditions? that's a question a lot of folks have. >> there's going to be 1332 waivers in which states would potentially request something different. my preferences states be required to continue to cover what are called essential health

benefits. maybe we don't get everything we want, but that would be my preference. i'll point out, insurance companies only add 40% to the premium, i think that works well. so we have to see how we end up. >> melissa: i also noticed you want to see federal medicaid funding to the states continued to grow and a sustainable manner. what does that mean? the original bill was talking about slowing the rate of growth, not actually cutting it as some people erroneously said, but at what rate would you want to grow it? >> first, you have to start over. when you speak about medicaid come out when you go to a per capita patient model, that means that the more folks enrolled, the more the state would receive. so one aspect of sustainability, if you had a recession, more people go on medicaid, but as a state emergency recession, you have fewer people, so that's more sustainable for the federal taxpayer. we would have an inflation rate

that's similar to the current bill, then will begin to work at what is driving increased cost of medicine and ideally, goes to a lower rate of inflation, not because it's an official, but because he lowered their growth rate of health care costs. >> melissa: a lot of people in the audience are wondering if you look at social media or check your email or look at your letters, people in america are screaming mad about the idea that you guys may not get this done and if you go home without finishing it, they may want you to stay there and not go back. do you understand that? >> totally. when other people said there's nothing more to be done, i kept working. my ideas if you work hard at something which is good, i've never given up. i'm still working hard, i'm optimistic. >> melissa: real quick before you go, is this going to get

done and what was your feeling coming out last night? how optimistic are you on a scale of 1-5, 5 being you'll get it done and make everyone happy? >> i'm a 3.5-4. i think we can get there, but we get there by giving power to patients and states. >> melissa: i hope you're right, thank you for coming on. >> heather: summing up, the president blasting his own attorney general over jeff sessions recusal, so will there be attorney general resigned? a debate, fair and balanced up next. >> sessions that have never recused himself and if he would, he should have told me before he took the job and i would have picked somebody else. you don't let anything

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>> melissa: president trump shortly critic causing attorney general jeff sessions telling "the new york times" you have never nominated him had he known that sessions would recuse himself from the russian investigation. >> jeff sessions takes the job, gets into the job, refuses himself, frankly, i think it's very unfair to the president. how do you take a job and then recuse yourself? if you would have recused himself before the job, i would have said, thanks jeff, but i'm not going to take you. it's extremely unfair, and that's a mild word come into the president. so he refuses himself. i then end up with a second man who is a deputy. >> melissa: the attorney general responding a short time ago, listen to this. >> i have the honor of serving

as attorney general, it's something that goes beyond any thought i would have ever had for myself. we love this job, we love this department, and i plan to continue to do so, as long as that is appropriate. >> melissa: there you go. joe chrissy is the former howard dean campaign manager and fox news contributor. carrie, i bet you that jeff sessions has heard that diatribe at least a couple of times by now, that nothing he heard from a near times was new. what you think? >> it you're probably right. this is kind of an interesting development, but i bet a lot of american people are getting frustrated with this constant intrigue. it was such a relief to have the president talk about health care and urging congress to get back to work on that and that's with the market people want. that's enough of this focus on who's doing investigating and we want people in washington to get back to really trying to make things work and try to turn our economy around and improve health care and get to tax

reform. i think that's where we need to push back and get the conversation back to that. >> melissa: joe, what do you make to that? i think the attorney general probably isn't going anywhere based on what we heard at the beginning of this interview, what is your thought? >> one, i don't think he is going anywhere. first of all, their primaries already underway and the filing deadline is closed. i don't think he joined the administration to retire from politics six months into it the first term. when you look at this, the president could have spent that time of "the new york times" talking about health care, talking about what he wanted the senate to do, much like he did with the meeting with the senators, but instead, it was him. it was the president himself -- >> melissa: are you sure this isn't just the excerpt of a near times is focusing on? >> they put the entire transcript out there, i'm pretty sure. first of all, point taken, but

he's the one that did that. he's the one that sat there and talked about jeff sessions and mueller, and rita litigated this whole thing again. which he's done time and time again, when the white house has tried to stay disciplined and talk about health care and the other thing that the american people would like to see something move forward on. it's the president who keeps derailing this with his tweets or these kinds of conversations with reporters. >> melissa: carey, taking the flip side of that, is that the case or is the president transparent and honest when he says what's on his mind and if he doesn't say what's on his mind, then people see him as hiding things, if he does, then you have "the huffington post" saying that he's derailed and unhinged, and he is going on a bizarre rant and that sort of thing. it seems like he can't win either way. >> absolutely.

clearly "the new york times" wants to do this president absolutely no flavors, so there's no doubt they're going to focus on whatever they think is most damaging. i think there are a lot of people in the white house who get frustrated when the president aims to aid the distraction and move the conversation back to things like russia. this president has done an awful good job talking to the american people, getting around the press, and getting his message out. the media is an obstacle, but he's able to overcome it sometimes. >> melissa: is it possible to move the conversation back? there's a lot of conversations going on right now on the people who are focused on policy are focused on health care and their watching that. and the people who really don't like the president continue to read and click on sites that deride him and that's what they want to read about and that's what they go look at and that's what "the new york times" and "huffington post" and msnbc, they all focus on these negative stories because that's what their audience likes and they're all businesses so that makes sense. everyone focuses on the conversation, what do you think

of that theory? >> it was the president and his people who decided to sit him down with "the new york times." i'm sure "the new york times" loved it, but if they had a purpose, he had a purpose to sit down with them. when you talk about he is out there, open, and what's on his mind, what was on his mind wasn't health care, it was russia and mueller and sessions. the sessions was his only supporter in the u.s. who was with him every step of the way until he started to get traction, it was sessions to help him get there and he's no longer senator because he's the attorney general and when you're trying to get 52 senators in the republican party to agree on something, they have to look at this and say, can we count on him to stand with us if he won't stand with jeff sessions? >> melissa: i'm really going to throw you under the bus if

you don't do what i want, maybe that was the message behind this. he sang here as well do. >> hill through jeff sessions under the bus, who won't he throw under the bus? if you worry g.o.p. senator right now, you have to wonder about that. look at -- >> melissa: i think you know. it can get crowded under the bu bus. >> tried to get the 52 votes doing that. >> melissa: thanks to both of you, heather? >> heather: to be fair, as you mention, he was asked the question, he didn't go off on his own. some new details on the investigation into russia's meddling in the 2016 election. still ahead, a new report that could impact the testimony next week by three key people in the president's campaign. plus, an outpouring of support for senator john mccain after his diagnosis last night with an

aggressive form of brain cancer. doctors say he's got a fight of head of him. he talks to planes. he talks to planes. watch this. hey watson, what's avionics telling you? maintenance records and performance data suggest replacing capacitor c4. not bad. what's with the coffee maker? sorry. we are not on speaking terms.

for my chronic back painescribed what's with the coffee maker? backed me up- big time. before movantik, i tried to treat it myself. no go. but i didn't back down. i talked to my doctor. she said: one, movantik was specifically designed for opioid-induced constipation- oic. number two? with my savings card, i can get movantik for about the same price as the other things i tried. don't take movantik if you have or had a bowel blockage.

serious side effects include opioid withdrawal, severe stomach pain, severe diarrhea, and stomach or intestinal tears. tell your doctor about side effects and medicines you take. movantik may interact with them causing side effects. don't back down from oic. talk to your doctor about movantik. remember: mo-van-tik. >> melissa: lawmakers on both sides of the aisle sun in their best wishes today to senator john mccain after the longtime arizona senator was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. the news of his condition came during a meeting on health care last night with over --

>> during the meeting to discuss the health care law, we all got the news of john mccain, a great friend to so many of us and we actually had a prayer and then senator mccain called in and we gave him our very best thoughts and wishes. >> melissa: >> melissa: garretty joins us now from capitol hill. >> senator john mccain is one of the most respected senators on capitol hill, so it's no surprise that the well wishes came pouring in as this news came out from across the political aisle. last friday, the 80-year-old senator from arizona underwent surgery for a blood clot above his left eye and last night, his doctors said his pathology test on the tissue they removed revealed that the tumor was an aggressive form of brain cancer known as glioblastoma. surgeons were able to completely remove the tumor, but mccain and his family are now reviewing further treatment options, which may include a combination of

chemotherapy as well as radiation. right now, there is no timeline for his return, but mccain has told his colleagues that he is anxious to get back on capitol hill and get back to work and last night, lindsey graham said even when mccain called him to tell him the news, the arizona senator quickly wanted to talk about legislatio legislation. >> it's going to be a tough road for him, but he said he wanted to talk about health care. literally it went 5 minutes until he turned away from what most people would have a hard time absorbing and focused on what he loves the best. i do know this. this disease has never had a noteworthy opponent. >> among the well-wishers last night was former president barack obama who tweeted john mccain is an american hero and one of the greatest fighters i've ever known. cancer doesn't know what it's up against. give it hell, john. president trump also released a statement saying in part, senator john mccain has always

been a fighter. melania and i send our thoughts and prayers to senator mccain, cindy, and their entire family. get well soon. there are lots of thoughts for senator john mccain. we add our own to those in which him the very best in the road ahead. >> melissa: absolutely, our thoughts and prayers with the whole family and our dear friend meghan mccain as well. in fact, the senator just tweeted about 11 minutes ago, saying i greatly appreciate the outpouring of support, unfortunately for my sparring partners in congress, i'll be back soon. so standby. that certainly is good news, great to hear from him. >> heather: absolutely. in the meantime, we are learning some new information about former trim campaign manager, paul manafort which could implement his testimony in front of the senate judiciary committee set for next week on russia's attempted meddling and the 26 election. the near times reporting that paul manafort was in debt to

pro-russian interests by as much as $17 million before joining the trump campaign back in march of 2016. let's bring in our legal panel to talk about this. thank you both for joining us. according to political, we have a date of july 26 square paul manafort, jared kushner, and donald trump, jr., will testify. they have not answered that call to testify yet, there are still mulling it over. let's begin with paul manafort and the latest information that we received an reference to this huge debt. >> >> doing business with russia isn't illegal, but when that business then influences his policy, you're likely to have violations. with the investigation now, looking into manna for its tax

and business records to see if there have been any criminal violations, that opens the door up to now possibly looking at the presidents tax and business records, which we know to this day, the president refuses to stand over. it's going to be very interesting to see as this investigation continues, what they uncover, but i wouldn't be surprised, especially since now, you have the president showing his most loyal supporter and throwing him under the bus. i wouldn't be surprised if he fires mueller. >> heather: before i get to you, i do want your response to this, we do have a statement and this came from paul manafort's spokesperson, jason maloney. he said, manna for it is not indebted, it is one of the entities involved, nor was he at the time when he began working for the trump campaign.

he did not collude with the russian government to influence the 2016 elections. to them, that's the bottom line. >> that's right. these are complicated facts that have to be worked through. there could very well be financial entitlements and financial transactions will be studied and looked at. the other point is the president appears to be quite upset over the possible expansion of the scope of the independent counse counsel's probe. we've been down that road many times in the past in other contexts. it's a pretty significant development, but certainly not one that lends itself to one liners or sound bites or conclusions. >> heather: what did you think about the statements he's made today? >> i think it was notable to making a statement about the attorney general. i don't think it was necessarily all that good of an idea to be saying i wouldn't have hired him

had he indicated that he was going to recuse himself, but again, i wouldn't read too much into it. i didn't think it was a particularly wise movement is sara lee. >> heather: you could say donald trump, jr., is facing some legal issues potentially? >> this word collusion has been put out there a number of times and although the statute is hard to prove, that includes kind ofn finance law. we have a meeting which all three attended, and you're getting opposition research to use against hillary clinton at the time, then you can look into possible violations when you aren't supposed to receive any contributions, anything of value from a foreign national. if you look at the information they were hoping to get as value, then you have a possible case against trump, jr., for

campaign finance laws. again, it's going to depend and i will be very interesting to see next week. hopefully they do attend voluntarily. it will be interesting to see what the senate can get information on. >> heather: how risky is this hearing for president trump? >> i don't think it is because i respectfully disagree in the sense that i'm not sure it's clear legally that information is a thing of value, that's a comp located question. it could be, but i think it's going to be high political drama, but not sure legally. >> heather: thank you so much for joining us. busy day, a lot of breaking news, thank you. >> melissa: president trump shedding new light on his second meeting with president putin at the g20 summit, how adoption factors into the discussion and what it means for u.s.-russian relations going forward.

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♪ >> heather: new information on president trump second meeting with president putin on the g20 summit. president trump told "the new york times" of the meeting consisted of mostly pleasantries, but there was a brief discussion about adoption. >> actually, it was very interesting. we talked about adoption. i've always found that interesting because i was into that years ago. i actually talked about russian adoption with him which is interesting because that was part of the conversation don had at his meeting. they call up and say by the way, we have information on your opponents. i said, who are you taking a meeting with >> heather: thank you for

joining us. you just heard president trump and his description of this second meeting that happened at this dinner that actually followed cocktails and an opera performance of the g20, what did you make of this? >> the mere fact of the meeting is not a scandal. people are saying that he talked to president putin. the substance of the conversation is more important and it seems like president trump can draw the connection between the adoption issue, which -- in the magnitsky act which is a law that was past several years ago that put sanctions on russian officials accused of human rights violations and putin was very angry about this and in response, he banned americans from adopting russian children. >> heather: surely knows the connection at this point. >> i'm not sure. it seems as though president trump and don, jr., they make it sound like this very innocuous subject. who wouldn't want to have

americans adopting russian orphans? i would agree. the reason they can't adopt russian orphans is because vladimir putin decides to make a very cruel decision after this law was passed and he decided to punish russian orphans and american parents who want to adopt them in order to protect his own regime. >> heather: in terms of the content of the conversation, to hear the president describe it, he wandered down this long table, everyone had been split up, the first lady was sitting next to president putin, she does not speak russian, although she does speak a lot of different languages. he wandered down there to say hello and they did happen to talk about adoption. there are other people sitting around, conversations for about 20 minutes. >> this is not a scandal. the president of the united states talks to leaders around the world on a regular

basis. i don't think the existence of a conversation at a dinner in hamburg as a cause for scandal. i'm more concerned with the substance itself. >> heather: this is something else he had to say and this was in reference to robert mueller, listen to this. >> i put out a letter from one of the most highly respect and law firms. they said i owned buildings in russia. he said a make money from russia, i don't. >> heather: quick answer to this, should he fire robert mueller? a lot of people saying he should, you're saying he shouldn't. >> absolutely not. if it touches upon potential

dealings that president trump has in his private business life, no one's accusing him of holding buildings in russia. there are suspicions about a number of stories -- go >> heather: sorry, i have to cut you off. we'll be right, stay with us. to get back to doing... ...what you love. ensure. always be you.

>> heather: the trump administration announcing plans to increase the number of visas available to temporary foreign workers. a program that some say is vital to industries like landscaping. kc's live in dallas with more. >> good to see you. 15,000 of these additional visas are now available, applications being accepted right now. they are designed for migrant workers who want to come temporarily, live in the united states, and work one of these seasonal jobs, doing things like landscaping, that is

the largest industry, using the program, you talked about fishermen, they are also folded in. they are out combing the waters for lobster and shrimp. then commercial and residential construction. roofers, framers, carpenters, even the hospitality industry. the ideas for u.s. businesses to apply so they can legally employ immigrant labor, but they must also provide proof to the feds that they advertise the position and made efforts to hire american workers first. something one texas ceo told me is getting harder and harder, saying he only receives one or two calls from u.s. citizens who answer his classified ads. critics however is say they're just not buying it. >> i would love to fill these jobs locally because we spend a tremendous amount of time with our people and/or resources resources, filling out the paperwork for this program. it is a arduous process.

>> there claiming they have shortages nationwide, we don't see that evidence, which means that they are able to find workers if they raise the wages that they offered. >> president trump has even reportedly relied on this particular visa program for seasonal workers at his mar-a-lago resort. more applicants now coming in, it's a process that takes a little bit of time. that landscape ceo that we talked to yesterday says it's a little too little too late right now, because it takes so much time to get the process going, but they say they appreciate the efforts being made. >> heather: at something. casey stegall, thank you. >> melissa: stay with fox news all day long, we have live coverage of the o.j. simpson parole hearing. shepard smith will be anchoring from the fox news deck, that begins at 1:00 p.m. eastern.

>> melissa: that was fun, i think we surprised everyone being together. p6 thanks for joining us. >> melissa: "outnumbered" starts right now. >> harris: fox news alert. more than two decades after his acquittal, 70-year-old former nfl star, o.j. simpson is about to learn his fate again. we are waiting symptoms parole hearing in nevada. he's been behind bars for nearly nine years after being convicted of charges including armed robbery. that happened in 2007 when simpson tried to recover some sports memorabilia from two dealers. today, he's hoping to convince april board to release him, after serving nine years of the minimum 33 year term. shepard smith will be covering today's hearing live starting right at the top of the next