the open. we can't possibly believe we are alone in the cosmos. >> bill: good morning, everybody. breaking news now on the tensions building over north korea. the u.s. military test firing an icbm. intercontinental ballistic missile lighting up the night sky in california that coming days after north korea's missile test. in reports from washington is president trump is said to get tough on china. good morning, it's wednesday and i'm bill hemmer live in "america's newsroom." good morning, shannon. >> shannon: i feel like that's the tip of the iceberg. a lot more to come. i'm shannon bream. the "wall street journal" is reporting the trump administration is planning new trade measures cracking down on intellectual property theft and making it easier for american companies to do business in

china. >> bill: john roberts is tracking all this very early at 9:00 a.m. we say good morning to you. >> a lot to unpack so far today and more to come as the morning unfolds as well. big show of force from the united states today against bad actors in the world. the u.s. air force test firing a minuteman three ballistic missile early this morning. it flew from vandenberg air force base in california 4200 miles before crashing into the marshall islands, it was unarmed. we are told it was not in response to north korea's testifying of an icbm that had the capability of the united states. this test was long planned. a reminder to north korea and others of america's capabilities. these test launches verify the accuracy and reliability of the icbm weapons system.

in montenegro today vice president mike pence stressed the importance of the u.s. and allies standing together in the face of mounting threats. >> the world witnessed again the grave and growing threat posed by missile capabilities in hands of dangerous regimes in north korea and iran. they both conducted launches. in these times of threats and provocations we must stand together. >> the white house is cracking down on intellectual property. the "wall street journal" reports the united states may be considering trade sanctions against china. also looking at ways to make entry into the chinese market easier for u.s. companies, at least part bound to anger china. the president very much concerned about the effect that

unfair trade practices, as he calls them by china, are having on u.s. companies and the american economy. that $347 billion trade deficit. the president also expected in the next little while to sign the russia trade sanctions bill. we also expect to hear from the vice president on that after it is signed. the president not in the oval office just yet. you can tell the marine guard isn't standing at the west wing door. should be there soon. one of the first orders of business will be to sign this trade sanction bill. >> bill: something to watch for. there will be something on immigration later today. what is the president prepared to announce? >> 11:30 this morning, this is something the president talked about a lot on the campaign trail and talked about it since he has become president. he wants to switch to a more merit-based system for green card applicants. not just letting everybody in, but having a certain requirement. he is getting together with david about purdue and tom

cotton that morning and what they'll be talking about this morning. moving legal immigration to a skills-based immigration system. one to make america more competitive. raise wages and create more jobs. the president talked about it last week in young town, ohio. >> we want it merit-based. we want people that work really hard in their country and that are going to come into our country and work really, really hard. we don't want people that come into our country and immediately go on welfare and stay there for the rest of their lives. >> the bill is called the raise act. the plan would cut yearly immigration in half from the current one million to 500,000 if fully implemented. not a huge appetite for any kind of immigration reform right now in congress particularly in the senate. this may be a tough lift. what the president is trying to do here along with senators

purdue and cotton. rather than going for a comprehensive immigration bill do it in bite-sized chunks. >> bill: thank you very much. leading our coverage today, john roberts on the north lawn. >> shannon: the trump administration slamming venezuela president nicolas maduro after they dragged a pair of his political opponents out of their homes in the middle of the night. some of that was captured and recorded. jailing them apparently for criticizing the regime on social media outlets. the white house responding the united states condemns the actions of the maduro dictatorship and call for the release of all political prisoners. good morning, steve. >> shannon, the white house signaling for a second day in a row just how important it is following this crisis in venezuela. yesterday it was cabinet ministers coming out calling for the first time the president of venezuela nicholas maduro a dictator linking him

with other notorious dictators around the world. this time president trump himself issued a statement calling for the release of those two mayors, calling them political prisoners and saying the government of venezuela is responsible for their well-being. the two mayors were dragged out from their homes in the middle of the night by masked security forces. one was in his pajamas and tried to resist. lopez was prepared for arrest. he had prerecorded a videotape that begins if you're watching this, it means i've been arrested again. the government is saying the two violated terms of their house arrest. the question now is where does the street violence, the protests go from here now that the opposition is being slowly neutralized? 10 people were killed in demonstrations on sunday. 125 killed over the past four months. will this push against the opposition spark further violence? that's the big question. so far the trump administration

has targeted individuals, officials in venezuela for sanctions. they've stayed away from the oil industry. that would be a powerful move but it carries risks as well. shannon, back to you. >> shannon: thank you very much. steve. reaction to all of this coming up from senator marco rubio. i spoke with him just moments ago. >> i think the administration is handling this well and calibrated for every step maduro has taken there is a response from this administration. as you notice and not being reported. i wish more people would be fair about reporting this. look at the regional support, chile, peru, all the countries are united following the president's lead on venezuela. >> shannon: that full interview coming up at the bottom of the hour. >> bill: analysis now, charlie hurt opinion editor and good morning to you. how is the trump team handling this and can they bring democratic change? >> well, it is a very tough situation down there but it is very important that the united states take this sort of

position there because it is a country in our hemisphere, a place all the other countries as senator rubio mentioned there look to us for that sort of guidance. i do think there is some hope, though. when you look at the white house and all the chaos we've seen in the west wing there has been a remarkably placid operation of the president's administration in terms of foreign policy. he really has allowed his generals to make decisions. all of that i think bodes very well he is letting the people that know the best strategies, know the situation, know what's going on on the ground, he is letting them do their job and he is listening to them. that's a stark departure from the previous administration. it's a tough situation but i think there is some reason to be hopeful. >> bill: this surveillance video rings true for a lot of people.

domestic politics. taxes on capitol hill. where does this stand right now and how much different will this be from healthcare? >> well, republicans that hope it's dramatically different from healthcare. that was nothing short of a disaster for them. even if you give any credence to this idea they might still be able to resurrect it. i'm doubtful of that. tax reform they have to do it. something that republicans know better than healthcare and donald trump knows better than healthcare. if they can't pull this off i don't see how their base stays with them in the next election. >> bill: it is easier than healthcare? >> i think it is easier in this respect. there is broad agreement about a lot of things like lowering tax rates especially among the corporate tax rate which is a job killer for -- all that translates well into politics. but in that regard i do think

it is easier than healthcare. but the fact that they couldn't pull something off with healthcare i think that underscores just how divided even the party but divided congress really is. >> bill: analysis there. nice to see you, charlie. kevin brady told us two days ago the roll-out would be different throughout the month of august and after the labor day break they'll make a strong push forward. we'll see. mish mcconnell saying we can do this republicans only. time will tell that. >> shannon: they are managing expectations about how much they will be able to get done on tax reform versus a tax cut. probably the best way to handle it for now. we have a big show ahead. senior counselor to the president kellyanne conway on the white house's agenda and how it stands now and how the republicans move forward on tax reform. >> bill: potential new challenge to america's universities. reports at the justice department will investigate affirmative action.

what's inside that story. details coming up in a moment. >> shannon: in the wake of last week's healthcare vote and white house shake-up what's the state of the relationship between president trump and the republicans on capitol hill? ronna mcdaniel joins us next. >> a lot don't want donald trump to succeed and don't like his policies. he crushed them and they never got over it. the day after the election, they began plotting what they hoped would be his demise.

>> shannon: a nato convoy caught up in a deadly attack in afghanistan. afghan police official saying a suicide bomber hit the convoy in southern kandahar province. it's not immediately known if u.s. troops were part of that convoy but it follows a deadly attack on the iraqi embassy in kabul on monday and two u.s. soldiers were injured in a hard landing of a blackhawk helicopter yesterday. the trump administration is considering deploying more troops into that country. >> republicans play the safe gentlemanly game of politics. i keep saying this, they agree with the democrats on a lot of key issues and don't agree with donald trump on a lot of key issues and they aren't willing to fight for him and policies he is in favor of. >> bill: that was fiery accusing some republicans of bang president trump and his agenda. is this an issue?

ronny mcdaniel is with me now. the chair woman of the rnc. how big of an issue is this when you consider healthcare, taxes and whatever else there is to come? >> it's very clear the president's agenda is the american people's agenda. i see it as i travel the country. i was in texas and nevada last week and this week in colorado and people are saying why isn't congress helping him? we want to see repeal and replace of obamacare. we want to see tax reform and we want to see congress work with this president. that's something i'm hearing overwhelmingly as i travel the country. >> bill: you hear it from voters but the lawmakers in washington where you get in a bit of a rub. eric trump sounded off on that this week as well. >> i want somebody to start fighting for him. republicans are raising seven times on a monthly basis what the dnc. why wouldn't they embrace that and carry out -- my father has the voice of this country.

the people of this country love him. why wouldn't they get in line? >> if he is right and go ahead and tell us if you agree or not. how big of an issue could this be? >> well, i agree with eric. our base loves the president. this was a change election. they sent a change agent to washington americans were saying we need somebody who will go fight for us. we need somebody who is going to lobby for us. we don't have the special interests in washington and that's what they saw in president trump. he needs partners in that. i think the senate and house will work with him. they need to. president trump is not giving up. i have think this healthcare situation where the president is saying we need to keep fighting and we need to keep getting back to the drawing table is a perfect example. listen, california yesterday anthem announced they'll pull out of 16 of 19 markets in california and premiums are going up. why should washington give up on healthcare relief when americans are still hurting? the president is showing that he is going to fight for them every step of the way. >> bill: what is his obligation

toward them? >> the president is already fulfilling his obligation. you look at unemployment numbers are down. consumer confidence is up. labor participation rate up. the dow hit high numbers. they're seeing him as coming to washington and championing him. my concern as party chair is if we can't get a congress that accomplishes the things we all ran on repealing and replace of obamacare and tax reform and infrastructure, if we can't push that agenda through, it is very hard to make the case in 2018 as to why we should be reelected and i'm hearing that across the country as i travel. >> bill: you're reflecting what the voters are saying. my question is more directed to the west wing and what their obligation is toward lawmakers to push the agenda you're describing forward. eric trump mentioned money. $75 million raised the first six months of the year and doubles the amount the dnc raised in obama's first six

months. it tells you small donors are listening to this commander-in-chief. >> bill: our base is rallied around the president and the president supporting the rnc. he does a lot of fundraising emails and we see it through the small dollar donations. they're saying washington, support this president and get things done. >> bill: on this matter involving the dnc, how much do you know about this i.t. worker who was arrested and apparently worked with debbie wasserman schultz? i don't know enough and i think it's why we need an investigation. it's very concerning this staffer had access to congressional computers and sensitive information. he was under investigation. that debbie wasserman schultz kept him on government payroll while under investigation while other congressional members pushed him off their service and then he was caught trying to flee the country after trying to liquidate assets in the united states. we need to get to the bottom of

why he was fleeing the country and why did debbie wasserman schultz fire him after he was detained at dulles airport? a lot of questions. debbie wasserman schultz has not been transparent and forthcoming. the leadership of the democrat party hasn't called for the transparency. if this were a republican staffer this would be getting all day coverage on the mainstream media networks and it has been radio silence. on a national security issue. >> bill: some members of congress want some answers. we'll see how long it takes to get them. ronna romney mcdaniel. thank you and enjoy your travels in colorado. >> shannon: the president is asking congress to circle back on healthcare amid new reports that major health insurers in some states are warning obamacare premiums could spike another 30% in 2018. we'll tell you where that is plus the unilateral action a president is considering to do in order to take action on his

own. >> bill: also you can run but not hide. 12 fugitives are back behind bars. how they tracked down the very last inmate as we learn more about this daring and clever escape. >> we've never had an escape from the martin county jail. i can tell you this, he is not getting peanut butter. come on, check out that stop-and-pop! what do you think? my trade-off analytics indicate no one creates more space on offense. this allows him to nail a jumper from a densely populated urban area. what you're trying to say is from way downtown? i am still learning. i can see that.

>> bill: the last of 12 escaped inmates captured. he was on the run for two days and told an anonymous tip helped lead the f.b.i. and police to capture brady kilpatrick holed up in a house in south florida. his sister and fiance arrested for aiding and abedding. they dove him 700 miles away from the prison. the 12 inmates escaped jail on sunday. 11 of them were caught within

hours. >> shannon: the department of justice taking on the topic of affirmative action on college campuses. the department will reportedly investigate the admissions process and how it discriminates against all applicants potentially including white students. we're live from the white house to tell us more. doug, what do we know? is this an actual shift in policy? what is it? >> it's murky at this point, shannon. the document in question was leaked by somebody at the department of justice to "the new york times." the times report says doj has begun soliciting current lawyers for a special project on investigations and possible litigation related to intentional raced based discrimination on college admissions. it doesn't mention who is being discriminated against but "the new york times" infers that it is white students and/or asian students.

asked about the report today a white house official said it is a personnel posting, not a policy announcement. the official added they just assume it's white students but don't have any evidence of that. official also added when there is a credible allegation of discrimination on the basis of race the department should look into it. "the new york times" also reported the wording of the document suggests these lawyers will be placed into this special project put into the front office, the front section at doj where political appointees are placed and not in the educational opportunities section where career civil servants are placed. >> shannon: where does the government stand on this issue of affirmative actions in college admissions. it has been so litigated. more cases are coming. it's not over. >> in the most recent one the scourt ruled in 2016 on an action case at the university of texas at austin to uphold race-based admissions there. but there are several other

cases pending in the department of justice hasn't weighed in on those pending cases. perhaps the most famous race-based case when it comes to university admissions california's proposition 209 was passed in 1996. it amended the california constitution to prohibit that state from considering race at all in public education and it has with stood several legal challenges. african-american rates of graduations have increased dramatically since its passage. >> bill: word from the pentagon. exclusive information here according to fox news a series of tests have been conducted in the past few days from beijing, china and what we understand. on friday and on saturday while the world was watching north korea, china quietly performed a series of missile tests on its own to send a message to the united states and the world.

u.s. spy agencies, detected chinese military launching 20 missiles at mock-up targets designed to look like the american thaad missile battery and stealth fighter pilots. china has long opposed the deployment of u.s. thaad missile system in south korea. something that is giving extra juice now because of north korea. they also believe the chinese tested cruise missiles meant to coincide with army day which celebrations occur on the first of august. breaking news from the pentagon on that as we talk about the icbm last night in the pacific on behalf of the u.s. military and on the heels of north korea's test last friday of their own icbm. watch all that. 28 past the hour now. >> shannon: senator who is not always seen eye-to-eye with president trump praising his response to the political crisis in venezuela. >> this is something the administration has done very

well. for those who like to criticize the president on this issue people should point that out. it's a bipartisan issue in america and regional issue and the white house deserves credit for that. >> shannon: the future of healthcare in the senate, plus this. >> he leads, unbelievable catch. >> bill: everyone is talking about this catch. a catch you have to see to believe. fenway park, check it out.

>> bill: look at what we have here, folks. dow 22,000. we have never been here before. rarified air for investors and rarified air for your 401k, too.

president trump has been talking about the markets. he suggests a lot of people not getting enough attention. this is a really difficult thing to ignore when you think about a 4,000 point jump since the election back in early november, this is extraordinary. sometimes you can go a generation without seeing a move like this and here it is. >> shannon: did you get a picture of it when it went to 22,000? he gets very excited. i don't know if this or the fantastic baseball plays are more exciting for you. i don't know. >> bill: this has more meaning to our lives. what apple did yesterday. when you think about the size and force of a company like apple. for them to come out with the earnings they had and to see it move in after market trading up 9 points now for such a big american company to make a move like that is substantial. and so many of us have a piece of that because we're invested in the markets and we have our money in the 401ks and up and up she goes. 4,000 points in seven or eight months is remarkable. >> shannon: you're going to retire on this. cash out and leave us early.

>> bill: only if you help me. >> shannon: we'll pool our resources. the white house is calling on the venezuela regime to release a pair of political opponents after government agents dragged them from their beds in the dead of night. [shouting and screaming] >> shannon: that crackdown comes after nicolas maduro seized unlimited power in a widely disputed vote for a new constitutional assembly. the trump administration slamming the regime as a dictatorship. i spoke to marco rubio about this and more. >> shannon: welcome to "america's newsroom." good to have you with us this morning. i want to start with the word that these two opposition leaders. we don't know their fate at this point. what is your message to the administration is venezuela? >> the trump administration is handling it just right. no doubt that dictatorship is personally responsible for the well-being of these two individuals who have been abducted from their homes in

the middle of the night to put in jail and put out youtube videos criticizing the government. i think the administration is handling this well and calibrated. for every step maduro has taken there is a response from this administration. i wish more people would be fair about reporting this. look at the regional support for what the president is doing, chile, peru, columbia, argentina, mexico. all the countries are united following the president's lead on venezuela and something the administration has done very well. in fairness for those who like to criticize the president on this issue people need to point it out. it's a bipartisan issue in american and the administration deserves credit for that. >> shannon: with regard to that region you're warning of a potential domino effect if this isn't handled properly that goes beyond venezuela and reaches our borders. what should we be aware of? >> that's what we should be aware of. let's say maduro is able to hold onto power. you have an oil-rich country

that sponsors left of center anti-american politicians in columbia, honduras, el salvador, nicaragua which is already there and one of the leading candidates in the mexican presidential race in a year is a guy who is a populist, nationist anti-american leftist. we aren't talking about 10 years from now but over the next two to three years an oil-rich country using that money to sponsor anti-american and anti-democratic leaders in the region and you have eight or nine countries down the spine of the hemisphere coming to our border a huge problem for america, nark owe states creating drug problems and anti-american states with human rights violations creating a migration problems. we have to think ahead. >> shannon: this country has great natural resources. they aren't flowing to the people. you spoke to them directly asking them to think about the fact that they're trying to put food on the table. their leaders continue to gain weight both literally and

figuratively with each decision they make. with regard to the oil there isn't an embargo on the crude oil coming out of venezuela. should there be at some point? would it be a workable solution? >> every option is on the table. it is a dramatic shift and hurt some american companies from the short term. i don't think that's the next step to take but it is on the table. venezuela now is taking $1 worth of oil and giving it for free to the cubans in exchange for the cubans sending over security agents to help them and they're selling it in the world market to places like china, russia for pennies on the dollar. they are getting 40 cents for every dollar. a dollar of oil for 40 cents in cash they use that money to steal 7 or 8% of it for themselves, the leaders and use the rest to pay the interest on old debt. so they can keep borrowing and carrying out this ponse scheme and ruse. >> shannon: you've been

speaking directly to them in english and spanish trying to get the message across. the u.s. is against the leaders, not the people. will it ultimately be up to the people there to bring about some kind of change internally? how does it turn around? >> the only thing we're asking for is follow their own constitution. the dictator maduro canceled the elections. no elections for governor or president. the national assembly, their congress, had an election two years ago. the opposition maduro daok the majority. he ignores the laws and does whatever he wants. that's all we're asking for is for them to have the elections scheduled under their own constitution. instead he decided to change the system of government. get rid of the national assembly and replace it with this cuban-style fake congress that they created on sunday and if they are seated today i think you'll see the trump administration respond. if they move in on the capitol

building to kick out the legitimate assembly and replace them with the stooges you'll see additional responses from the trump administration. >> shannon: we think about 120 people have lost their lives trying to be part of the opposition there. quickly a couple other hot spots. secretary of state rex tillerson say we're getting to a pivot point with china and russia as well. where we have a new round of sanctions coming their way. >> rightfully so. the issue of china. they've been stealing our products and steal american ideas. hack our computers or in china force you to turn it over. you saw yesterday or the day before apple had to agree to get rid of privacy things that the chinese people were using to get around the great firewall. they've been abusing this relationship for a long period of time. at some point someone needs to stand up to them and i'm glad the president is doing it. on the issue of russia. vladimir putin badly miscalculated. he united the left and right against the moves he is making

around the move. vladimir putin is a cost-benefit analyzer and acts on the basis of cost versus benefits and we need to ensure that he needs to understand that for all of these things he is doing, the costs will outweigh the benefits. we hope the situation can improve itself. they're a nuclear power and we have to deal with them but we won't abandon ukrainian sovereignty or abandon our allies in nato i'm happy the vice president was over there affirming that. >> i was elected in 2010 on the promise of repealing and replacing obamacare and reelected in 2016 on the same promise. it is a promise i intend to do everything i can to keep. and again, i don't set the agenda in the senate but i'll push for that agenda. it street a terrible mistake to say we won't try at least once more to get progress. as we put that together we have to start working on tax reform. i'm working with the white house on the child tax credit which is important. we have to deal with a bunch of

other issues and get the president's appointments in place but we shouldn't abandon healthcare reform. if we don't keep that promise americans have a right to ask what's the point of having a republican majority if you don't do republican things? i hope we get back to it. i'll be really upset if we don't. >> shannon: we'll be watching closely. senator marco rubio, thank you, sir. >> bill: very interesting. good stuff there. check this out. fenway park last night. might be the catch of the year. >> switch hitter. a long fly ball, deep center field, jackson is back, he leaps, he made an unbelievable catch. he flips into the bullpen. >> bill: cleveland's austin jackson holding onto the ball and flipping. that's a terrific catch. hanley ramirez who hit the ball couldn't believe it. robbed of a home run. red sox won that thing in the end. >> bill: he can play center field. cool stuff there. >> shannon: it makes my back

hurt. i'm not sure i would have survived that. >> bill: don't think today we could. >> shannon: good for him. well, if you were stuck on the tarmac it's not something you ever want to hear. >> please take your assigned seat to be able to open the exits to get the airflow going. >> bill: details of how these passengers were stuck with no a.c. and no water and for how long you won't believe. mitch mcconnell digging in on tax reform. will republicans get a win this time? >> president trump: we'll be submitting an infrastructure bill in the not very distant future. we'll submit a tax bill in the very near future. [applause]

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back after labor day. as you know, under the constitutional start in the house. i don't think this will be 1986 when you had a bipartisan effort to scrub the code. >> bill: there is mitch mcconnell senate majority leader. the latest on this tax reform deal. that will not be easy. for now he will move forward with only republicans. grover norquist is with me now. good morning to you. this is like christmas morning for you, right? the chance to talk about this. >> it is. it will be a good tax bill. >> bill: will it be a reality? >> yes. the reason is a couple of things. one, it's easier to get 50 plus republicans in the senate to agree to a tax cut bill than it is all the moving parts in healthcare. it affects all 50 states in a beneficial way. you don't have states trying to game the system to some advantage. the other part of this the entire business community is united because trump is doing

something that's tremendously pro growth. it takes the corporate rate and the individual business -- small business rates both down to 15% which would be tremendous economic growth. so all the fortune 500 companies really want it. the hi-tech companies need it desperately. but also the smaller companies in america have been taxed at higher rates than regular corporations, sub chapter s have been taxed at 40 and 44% compared to 35 at the corporate rate. the european average is about 22%. we're 35 to 44. >> bill: as you are talking there we're looking at the dow above 22,000. what are investors seeing or hearing or perhaps because it's not a done deal, what are they hoping for now? >> it's not a done deal but i think they're recognizing it increasingly likely. if you earn $1 right now at a

35% rate you actually only get to keep 65%. 65 cents of the dollar. if you go to a 15% rate as president trump wants, you would actually keep 85 cents. instead of 65 you add 20 cents to the 65. that's a tremendous increase in your net income and it means the value of every stock in the country is going to go dramatically up. the more that becomes clear that's happening, the higher up the stock market is going. they're just -- they're looking at hints now when it passes of strong growth. >> bill: that's the economics of it. here is the politics. mitch mcconnell said this on screen. it is obvious that our problem on healthcare was not democrats. we don't have 50 republicans. the good news is that the top two priorities of the president don't require anything more than a simple majority tax reform and healthcare. when you read it on its face it sounds easy. i think it's a long way from being easy. do you?

>> i wouldn't say easy. it will take a lot of work. look, there are many taxes at the national level that need to be cut. we need to take the business rates down. we need to take individual rates down. we need to get rid of the death tax and the so-called alternative minimum tax and need to go to faster depreciation, go to full business expenseing. those all compete with each other to be included in a package and some of them will be made permanent and some may be made -- last for 10 years as the bush tax cuts did. the arguments are going to be which of these tax cuts can we fit into the package for how long, not what direction do you want to go. the reason why there will be no democrat votes for tax reduction -- >> bill: none? three senators did not sign the pledge from yesterday and they are all in states where president trump won. >> right. if you don't have eight democrats to get to 60, three does no good and so -- but you won't even have them.

one, they're worried about the primary. two they're -- obama could have cut the business tax rate to become internationally competitive any of the eight years. he never even made an effort to do so. the modern democratic party has opposed any changes in the tax code that aren't increases in taxes. i would love to have that change. i remember in 1981 and 1986 there were democrat votes. many democrat votes in the senate for those massive tax rate reductions in both cases for all americans. >> bill: the point mcconnell was making there. >> it's a different party. >> shannon: will the democrats help them get taxes -- >> bill: obamacare premiums on the rise yet again.

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>> shannon: an illegal immigrant identified as a daca recipient, a dreamer, is notify accused in the brutal rape of a woman in washington state. salvador garcia viciously attacked the woman breaking her eyes socket and nose. residents are trying to remove it as a sanctuary city. >> this was a vicious attack on a 19-year-old woman and the accused is a 23-year-old illegal immigrant who until just yesterday was allowed to stay in the u.s. under the deferred action for childhood

arrivals program or dacha. it happened the night of june 25 in a suburb south of see alt. she was working out in her apartment gym. the attacker was behind her as she ran on the treadmill. the next thing she remembers is waking up in the hospital. according to the probable cause document filed by fol is the victim had been badly beaten. only wearing her tank top. ear was torn and tangling. numerous cuts than her head. bleeding and unable to talk she suffered a broken jaw and broken nose and broken eye bone. >> she was beat unconscious in her apartment's physical fitness room and then raped. it was not an illegal alien that reported that person. >> four days after the rape police arrested salvador garcia. they say he was caught on surveillance video watching young girls in the pool area just before the attack. they found the victim's blood

on his pants in his apartment. they passed a sanctuary city law in january before president trump took office. a citizens group collected enough signatures to put a referendum on the ballot in november. garcia was granted dreamer status and renewed it again january 31. we learned yesterday that immigration officials revoked his dacha status making him deportable. supporters of sanctuary city policy say they make the community safer and opponents say they have no way of knowing. garcia faces a charge of second degree rape and molestation. prosecutors say he tried to attack a 14-year-old girl earlier in the day. >> bill: in moments we get the latest warnings on obamacare this time coming from insurance companies signaling massive premium hikes just around the corner. what's happening on that front

and kellyanne conway is live to take on obamacare, tax reform and how the brand-new chief of staff might be changing things in the west wing already. stay tuned.

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(avo) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. get 0% apr financing for 63 months on all new 2017 subaru outback models. now through august 31. >> shannon: this is a fox news alert. check it out. the dow hitting the 22,000 mark for the first time ever and pretty tenuously staying above it for now. a new record after months of climbs under the election and presidency of donald trump. some give him credit, others don't. the fact is clear the economy seems to be on the upswing and that market record is new. executives say indecision about repeal and replace is causing uncertainty in the market and could have an impact on your wallet in the coming year in the form of massive rate hikes. welcome to a new hour of "america's newsroom." i'm shannon bream, how are you? >> bill: fine, how are you? good morning, i'm bill hemmer. insurance companies will be raising premiums in 2018 and in

some states by as much as 30%. in part because of congress's inaction on obamacare and now some lawmakers want to abandon healthcare reform all together and move on. taxes up next. others say they're not ready to give up on that just yet. >> i was elected in 2010 on the promise of repealing and replacing obamacare and reelected in 2016 on the same promise. it is a promise i intend to do everything i can to keep. and again, i don't set the agenda in the senate but i'll push for that agenda. it is a terrible mistake to say we won't try at least once more to get some progress. >> bill: mike emanuel live on the hill. how anxious are lawmakers when they consider constituents getting hammered by insurance premiums yet again? >> they're alarmed by noting a lot of constituents have seen their premiums triple already for less coverage and a lot of these republican senators are saying they aren't forgetting those they promised to help.

>> obviously there are families struggling to pay their bills, specifically their individual insurance bills and we could have begun to address that with the repeal and replace effort. we couldn't get that passed. we have to do something different. this is beginning of that something different. >> make no mistake about it. today's headlines adding to the frustration a lot of these senators are feeling coming one vote short from advancing a major campaign promise, bill. >> bill: what about the plans for hearings, mike? what are you literally hearing about that? >> that's right. the senate committee that handles health issues is promising there will be hearings after the august recess. senator lamarr alexander and patty murray on the panel saying they'll start hearings the week of september 4th. they say they'll look at actions congress should take to stabilize and strengthen the individual health insurance market. >> i appreciate you being willing to work with us on healthcare. i think we've shown time and

again that we can work through some tough problems and compromise. i'm ready to get to work and i know our side is as well. so thank you. >> one republican senator who killed healthcare reform last week is now praising this move. >> i'm very happy that the health committee will be holding bipartisan hearings to look at how we can stabilize the insurance markets to produce what i hope will be a series of bills to fix the flaws in the affordable care act. this is the approach we should have taken from the beginning. >> that's more what democrats want. fixing obamacare rather than scrapping it. >> bill: more to come on that from the hill. >> shannon: for more chris stirewalt. this isn't chris wallace. good to see you this morning. >> how are you? >> shannon: very good. let's talk about these efforts.

we spoke with marco rubio last hour. this better not be over. we're not fulfilling a promise to the people who sent us here. even if they restart what they talk about doing is not what they promised over the last seven years. >> since the springtime they haven't been talking about doing what they promised over the last seven years. once they got the original idea republicans had was oops, the dog ate our homework. we forgot to have a plan to replace obamacare. let's set a deadline for repeal later. they came back to that a few times through the process. everything else they discussed is how do you prop up obamacare for the next year and what do conservatives get in exchange for a necessary bail-out for next year to prevent millions of people from losing coverage. >> shannon: insurers are pointing the finger at capitol hill. there is so much uncertainty in the markets. we don't know if the payments that cover -- the money is going to the companies. we don't know so we'll price things up. a number of states, some of the spikes are as high as 30%.

it's important to know part of that spike they attribute to the fact they could lose millions of people freed from the individual mandate and choose not to buy their products. >> you have the underlying problem with the law that democrats passed on a party line vote in 2010. so there is problem a. then you have problem b which is that republicans have gone after it with a mallet and some crab claw crackers and a pokey stick and the president sometimes threatens maybe we'll just let all these people lose their insurance and let everything explode or maybe repeal the whole thing. if you're an insurance company, if your job is to your shareholders and you say we have to assume the republicans are going to do the worst. we'll assume the republicans will potentially make good on the president's threat to throw people off health insurance. if that happens here is what it will cost. that means the prices go up and up. now we're seeing both -- it is now these rate increases are the fault of both parties. >> shannon: and of the current

president >> an former. we have it all. >> >> shannon: the gop senator saying we'll hold bipartisan hearings in the health committee. patty murray talking about working with him. where do we go with that? does it lead to real solutions you can get 50 people to vote on? >> i told you a long time ago what would end up happening is in the dead of night congress was going to at the 11th hour pass a patch for obamacare for next year. remember, 80% of the people in america their insurance is fine. not a problem. they get it through the government or their employer. that's not an issue. the issue is for the 20% of the people in the insurance market facing these problems. industry estimates are between 6, 8, 9 billion needed to put through to prop it up so insurers stay in the game. that money will come through, i bet, in an 11th hour bipartisan

votes. conservatives and liberals will stay out. democrats and republicans in the middle will pass it and everybody will say i don't remember that vote. it was very late. i can't recall and there will be a gavel and everybody will run away. >> shannon: the people will be impacted will get the bail-out and it will be a done deal and we'll be back to more cliffs. >> exactly. >> shannon: that's when we act is when we get to a cliff. all right, bill. by the way, just in case you forgot coming up at 10:30 we'll be joined by kellyanne conway saying the possibility of an executive order on healthcare the president acting without congress is gaining steam. >> bill: now to a fox news ex includesive. national security concerns over a pentagon program that recruits foreigners with specialized skills to serve in the military in exchange for an expedited path to citizenship. one lawmaker says the program is compromised.

another expressing fear about foreign infiltration. james rosin broke the story. tell us what the pentagon is saying about that report, james. >> in a word, rather little but defense department spokesman did confirm what fox news learned, namely that the pentagon's inspector general began investigating this program 15 months ago and in late june of this year issued a report. its contents classified evaluating the service's compliance with the rules for security reviews and monitoring of the foreign-born enrollees in this program. the program is called mill -- it has produced many success stories among immigrants enlisted with special skill sets with expedited path to citizenship but it is suspended from accepting new applications because of concerns over belated vetting. concerns about infiltration and concerns about individuals unaccounted for. the lack of discipline in implementation of this program, said republican steve russell

of oklahoma has created problems elsewhere. indeed it was russell, a retired army officer and member of the subcommittee on military personnel who spoke about it. >> the program has been replete problems with foreign infiltration. so much so the department of defense is seeking to suspend the program due to those concerns. >> it is suspended. the pentagon inspector general's report was issued the day russell spoke. >> bill: any indication that mismanagement of this program was exploited by our enemies from countries involved in the war on terror? >> there is not. although most of the details remain classified. such vulnerabilities in american immigration programs are just the kind of weakness that foreign terrorist organizations seek to exploit. >> there is no doubt about it. isis has always had the desire to use migration as to way to penetrate to countries.

they have done it successfully in europe because of open borders, mass immigration with no vetting. in the united states, we haven't had any record of their penetration and certainly if this program is compromised there is a possibility of that kind of penetration it has to be investigated. >> the reason the pentagon cites for its silence is pending litigation from the recruits against the secretary of defense in february. >> shannon: justice department preparing to take on affirmative action on college campuses? new reports of a plan to crack down on college admissions practices that could be discriminatory. >> bill: the search is on and growing for an american sailor who may be lost in the open seas. what may have happened. >> shannon: an american icbm lights up the western skies. is it a test or are we sending

a message? >> the options available to us i think as all of you well understand are limited and particularly if we think we're operating under a short period of time.

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>> bill: 14 past the hour fox news alert. a sailor on board a ship unaccounted for after a routine operation. japan helping to scour the south china sea helping to aid

in the search. the pacific fleet said there was a man overboard report earlier this morning. we're hoping for the best as we go forward. >> shannon: new reports that the justice department is preparing to take on affirmative action in college admissions. administration assembling a team to investigate and take legal action against schools found to have policies that may discriminate against certain applicants. critics say they fear the doj is looking at protecting white students. one white house official say it's a personnel posting, not a policy announcement. they assume it's white students but they don't have any evidence of that. when there is a credible allegation of discrimination on the basis of race the department should look into it. talk about it with richard fowler and brad blakeman. good to have you both with us. okay, this surfaces from a report that comes out of "the new york times." they got a document that's a posting looking for people who would be

attorneys to join this job description, this task force. richard, it never says anything about protecting any one specific race over another but it seems like there has been a leap by people who automatically assume the doj is only talking about protecting white students. >> that's a good point that you make there, shannon. there is no clear evidence that this group of lawyers will be going and protecting white students. with that being said you have to look at jeff session's track record, the attorney general. while he was in the senate over and over and over again he made moves to stop affirmative action. if it is indeed true that some critics are saying this committee will work on -- this group of lawyers will work on rolling back the affirmative action protection to make our campuses more diverse that's an affront to trump's campaign slogan making america great again. it's great because we desegregated schools. >> shannon: i don't think all

these things are exclusive. you can protect all students at the same time. there are people who are looking at these conversations and saying yes, these laws are all about making sure that everybody has a fair shot. but often what is happening now is some of these laws turn out to be asian-americans and white students as well. >> that's right. it is a lawyer and scholar of the constitution is an equal protection argument. we have to protect every american. affirmative action the supreme court found in individual cases, case-by-case there are needs for affirmative action. the question is how best to apply the law. and all -- if you read very closely "the new york times" article it says they're looking for applicants to investigate and possible litigation. so like every law that's more than 50 years old, you need to take into account how that law is applied today in changing

circumstances, different classes, different people who may have been targets of that affirmative action plan 20 years ago aren't the same they are today. so all this is doing is having fresh eyes look at affirmative action and the law as it applies going forward. this is not any kind of attack on any class of people. >> shannon: i want to put up numbers so people have a little bit of data in front of them to look at the official population ethnicity population. you can see the statistics there. the white population at 61.3%. a breakdown between black, hispanic and asian and pacific islander. the makeup of undergraduate students it's 5% lower for students and slightly higher for each of the other groups represented there. so richard, that's just some data to work when people are looking at who is going to college. the supreme court says you

can't have quotas. but they have said in a holistic way when you look at where they came from it can be considered but you have to do it very carefully. it is hard to make -- there is no formula. the court doesn't want to set one. it's tough. >> it is definitely tough. where i disagree with brad. we had fresh eyes look at this law. the supreme court ruled the idea that universities can have race -- >> it was a specific to that university. >> wait. the decision also prescribes standards. one talked about how at the university of texas tried to use diversity recruitment tactics using as many marketing materials as possible to bring in more diverse applicants they still found it could not get those applicants that rolled them back to the race-conscious admissions policy. what this justice department is doing if the reports are true or whatever they're doing here, it could sort of go -- smack in

the face of the supreme court ruling of last year and why folks on the left are saying wait a minute now. we know jeff session's track record on this. if we believe it to be true, this type of move is disappointing. >> shannon: many of the accusations against him of the process were debunked is fair to say about jeff sessions and his reputation. "the new york times" says the document doesn't explicitly identify who the justice department considers at risk. we'll wait and see. they've jumped ahead a few notches possibly on this reporting. we'll wait and see. great to see you both. >> bill: in a moment new details about an immigration crackdown. agents carry out a series of raids across the country. what these arrests say about the trump team's policy next. >> shannon: counselor to the president welcoming democratic input about tax reform.

kellyanne conway joins us live. >> getting the democrats to do what's right by their constituents is as simple as saying we welcome you and we don't think obstruction and resistance is much of a message. live-stream your favorite sport

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on illegal immigrants and i've had an opportunity to speak to immigrant groups across this area in the northeast and i think that if the federal government maintains their focus on violent criminals, the other immigrants want those people removed from their community. they don't want to have violent people living near them because they tend to prey on their neighbors, on the people from their own communities. >> bill: that's an interesting point. of the 650 arrested. 130 had criminal conviction beyond the illegal immigration. you are saying communities react to that. >> they do. they know who the bad guys are living among them and they don't want them there. so i think there is broad support for a focused effort like this. >> bill: tell me how the police respond when the attorney general, jeff sessions, says we've got your backs.

how do police respond when they hear we're in this together? >> this is the kind outreach that's desperately needed in the police business right now. for many years we've been vilified by spokes people blaming us for everything in the criminal justice system. it is great to see an attorney general do outreach to the police widely accepted by my colleagues and greatly needed at this point in time. >> bill: now, there was a strong reaction to a comment the president made last friday out at long island about police when you arrest somebody, his words i'm paraphrasing. duck their head before they get in the police car. don't duck their head. it's a paraphrase. the police union president made a strong statement against that. how do you interpret that comment? was he right or was there sarcasm involved there as the

white house defended his comment? >> i think that the white house has said the president was joking. you have to take him at his word on this. my colleagues and the head of noble who brought the issue to the forefront yesterday i think are correct because they are really in the neighborhoods on the tip of the spear of this issue trying to reestablish trust among communities that have been told that they had hurt them. it's really important that we maintain a strong stance of impartiality and justice for the people. i think that's what's happening here. >> bill: i understand you are speaking as a police officer. >> right. >> bill: did you hear it as sarcasm or do you think it's the kind of thing that shouldn't be spoken? >> well, i'm not a fan of political correctness but i think because of the difficulty we're having in policeing right now. we are oef in a crisis of trust. i think that the words could have been better chosen.

>> bill: really appreciate your time today. thanks for coming on "america's newsroom." we'll talk about. 28 past. >> shannon: one of the big questions facing president trump's agenda will democrats work with republicans on tax reform? kellyanne conway says the door is open and will join us live to talk about it and the latest reports on efforts on obamacare as well and the sanctions bill and much more plus this. >> bill: they have a fish story. yes, they do. check it out.

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we're live from the middle east bureau with the latest. >> the taliban has claimed responsibility. that news just coming out a short time ago. that's number one. number two, there were casualties as far as this attack goes. it is unclear at this point if any americans, if any u.s. troops were involved. we're waiting on more details having to do with that. that said, take a look at the map. this happened -- the attack happened this afternoon in the southern afghan city of kandahar. a suicide bomber drove his vehicle into a convoy of nato trucks setting off a massive explosion. one store owner reportedly said knocked him out because the concussion was so strong. witnesses also said a military helicopter medevaced several soldiers from the area, unclear if americans are among the injured. the location where the attack happened is close to an airport and military base with nearly

13,000 troops from 39 countries including the u.s. that help to train, advise and assist afghan security forces. this has been and remains a high-target area, very hot with taliban attacks. and this latest attack is among several others as we know this week in afghanistan, 29 people were killed in a suicide attack yesterday at a mosque in the western part of the country. the taliban -- isis claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing at the iraqi embassy in kabul on monday. the taliban claiming responsibility for this as far as americans injured we're unsure but we'll continue to follow this story. >> shannon: thank you. >> it's very clear the president's agenda is the american people's agenda. i see it as a travel the country. i was in texas last week and nevada and this week in

colorado. people are saying why isn't congress helping the president accomplish his agenda? we sent him a majority in the house and senate. we want to see repeal and replace of obamacare and the tax reform and working with the president. >> bill: how much of an issue is this for the white house and president? let's go straight to the white house and talk to kellyanne conway senior counsel to president trump. thank you for your time and welcome back to "america's newsroom." it's good to have you back here. does the president believe he has republicans on his side? >> yes, he certainly hopes so. they're the ones who promised their constituents they would get tax reform and tax relief for their constituents, put isis in retreat and keep us safe and prosper house and repeal obamacare. he has the pen in hand and he

is ready. ist is not an accident. i would say it's causation, no coincidence that we have the majority of the governors and the legislators in republicans. people are sick of divided government. that excuse is over. the man behind me, the president of the united states ready to take action on significant pieces of legislation and bill i would also say >> bill: you know those voters who made that happen are expecting results and now i know the white house is pushing the senate to go back to healthcare but already several republicans have said no, we'll move on to taxes. can president trump change that course? >> why can't we do both? this is always the problem in washington, d.c. the swamp only wants to do one thing at a time. takes forever to get it done to execute on it. look at the difference between the accomplishments this president has been able to achieve in his first six months or so in office versus what has been done legislatively.

it doesn't compare. most of what he has been able to do has been through executive order or through other actions where he has been able to make a difference in a way that you see over 800,000 jobs created. you see the stock market loves this presidency, all-time record high yesterday, over 30 record highs of the dow jones since he took office. when people open up their 401k statements and the consumer confidence levels and people are spending money to attract and retain american workforce, to expand in their place of work, you see all these great indicators. outside of legislation. plus we also appreciate just yesterday christopher wray become the f.b.i. director. you will have two united states senators join with the president to have a skills-based immigration policy. many things are happening with our senators. we just hope as a body that the

house, senate, congress and white house can work together to get some big legislative wins for the people of the country. >> bill: they're working on the driveway behind you for sure. the stock market is up at any time in any generation. the president is not giving up on healthcare, right? >> the president would never give up on the over 20 million people who don't have health insurance while you and i talk today. he will never give up on the 6 1/2 million people to fork over taxes and penalties to the i.r.s. rather than buy basic obamacare. >> bill: another topic. i'm trying to move you along in the interests of time. we're getting word the president has signed the sanctions bill against iran, north korea and russia. can you confirm that? >> yes, that's correct. it is exciting and overwhelmingly bipartisan measure. the president worked hard to improve the details and we need to make sure that people around

the globe know that this president has committed to an american first policy and that includes first and foremost our national security. >> bill: before he signed that did he have a conversation with vladimir putin? >> i can't comment on that and i'm not aware of that. >> bill: yesterday the question came up as to this letter that was written on board air force one defending his son, don junior. what more can you add to the context for how that conversation came about on board the plane? >> i wasn't on that trip. i wasn't part of that conversation. i can tell you in speaking with my colleagues the president did not dictate the statement. he weighed in as a father would do if his son is being attacked and i will also just go back to what we're really talking about here. what came of that meeting last june 2016 before i joined the campaign, they've all said nothing came of the meeting. when i became the campaign manager it wasn't like they ran up to me and said we have this

smoking gun silver bullet on how to beat hillary clinton, here it is. the only dossier we know about is the phony one that the democratic link fusion gps got by taking russian money to try to damage candidate trump. that's all we know about the information. >> bill: do we need to understand anything more about how the letter was drafted? >> what i've been told is the president weighed in. did not dictate the statement. he was not even aware of that meeting. nobody went to him and said wow we had this amazing meeting and know how we're going to win. don't give these rallies or don't talk about issue. we can lay back. if anybody was told that it was hillary clinton. she was told don't worry about the election result. just show up. express a lot of anger because you'll win anyway. she was the one being told that, he wasn't. let's go back to what that meeting was. he was unaware. nothing came of that meeting. no follow-up. >> bill: secretary kelly day

three on the job. how can you tell viewers how he has changed the process in the west wing already? or has he? >> i find general kelly to be the most amazing combination of what i believe are the two major attributes of people who succeed the longest and strongest around president trump. tough but humble. and with the gravity and responsibility of this job must come a great deal of humility. i believe that general kelly obviously commands a great deal of respect if not deference and he shows respect. he is somebody who wants to empower his staff to succeed. he closed the door to the oval office. i applaud that. i'm a big protocol and pecking order kind of gal. this is a good thing. >> bill: he has closed the door to the oval office. what does that mean in the context? the president likes a free-flowing schedule. that's his personality. is that different now three days later? >> the president is the president. he will run the white house as

he would like to but he has empowered general kelly as the chief of staff to focus on the staff as well and to be with the president for a number of critical meetings and conversations. i applaud that. i think the chief of staff and the president should have a very unique, very close relationship in terms of what they discuss and then how it flows down to and back up from the staff. people here feel excited. the other thing people aren't covering about general kelly. order, discipline, military service. this man is a public servants of nearly five decades and with that comes a great deal of experience with personnel, with managing and leading but he understands capitol hill and he worked the hill before. he just came from the cabinet. he knows some of the most important people in the administration, the cabinet members. it is all very important. >> bill: yes or no, would you describe it as a different west wing already? >> yes.

>> bill: american dream week continues. what will you be doing at the white house? >> thank you for asking. yesterday mcmahon, our small business administrator and ivanka trump and president had -- getting tax reform. today ivanka trump and i will lead a round table with military spouses of unemployment and underemployment. military spouses often face the crushing burden of having to pay for a license in a new state because their spouse is deployed and they've moved to a different base and $500 you pay for a license in a new state even though you've already been credentialed and active part of the workforce could be the difference between childcare, groceries or getting that license. we're trying to help military spouses connect with other employment opportunities and try to show the private sector, too, that military spouses are

among the brightest and best in terms of our workforce and don't look at them as temporary but committed to this nation and wanting to be part of the local workforce. >> bill: good cause. good luck with it. look forward to speaking with you again soon. >> shannon: alarm in washington over recent north korean actions as the trump administration weighs its options. the potential courses of action and potential risks next. >> we're weighing all options keeping all options on the table. as we said many times before we won't broadcast what we're going to do until that happens. and while we make more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget... that your business is our business the united states postal service. priority: you at the lexus golden opportunity sales event before it ends. choose from the is turbo, es 350 or nx turbo

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>> shannon: a fox news alert the u.s. air force successfully launching an intercontinental ballistic missile from california earlier today. the fourth test from the u.s. this year and comes less than a week after north korea's record-setting missile test. u.s. officials say the air force test wasn't in response

to pyongyang's actions but it was long planed. let's talk about it with ralph peters. what do you make of this? now we've also learned today that china has been doing some missile testing of its own. are they playing all sides in this conversation? >> well, china is a key beneficiary of all of this in peace and even were it to come to war. you raise a crucial point. one of the greatest obstacles, perhaps the greatest obstacle to making progress on the north korea threat is group think in washington it's accepted wisdom that the path of pyongyang goes through beijing. china will help us, we have to figure out the right button to press. china will never decisively help us against north korea because china benefits in peacetime, north korea keeps us occupied so we haven't cracked down on the chinese in trade or intellectual property issues and in wartime north korea would tie down enormous amounts

of u.s. troops. but let's look at the worst comes to worse and the north koreans explode a nuclear weapon in the air above honolulu. it won't benefit north korea because we would destroy the place. but china without firing a shot would have wrecked the pivot of our pacific strategy. people aren't thinking militarily on this. the key north korean target for nukes would be honolulu, san diego, seattle, fort lewis. it's a possibility for china to achieve its dream, driving the u.s. from the pacific without beijing firing a shot. >> shannon: that develops by the minute. i want to ask you about the pentagon inspector general report about the program aimed on bringing people in who are foreign nationals but have

special skills. maybe they speak a language that we need that's underrepresented in the military. special access to getting into these programs. the pentagon inspector general says we're talking about more than 10,000 foreign-born people into the service. many good people doing good things but they won't tell us how many people are now unaccounted for. they have great concerns. there are security concerns raised by lawmakers and word that the program has been compromised. what do you make of that? >> well, this program is a great idea because above all, we do need language skills because we americans are just too lazy to learn foreign languages. we don't learn spanish let alone farsi. it's a good idea. where it breaks down is the bureaucracies. how do you vet these people? you can do it but it takes a lot of man-hours and personnel to do the vetting. the vetting fell way behind. we weren't sure who we were getting. so again, a great idea, badly

executed. i don't want that program to end, but it has to get much tougher. >> shannon: apparently we were -- the goal was to get the people with those special skills but apparently we were bringing in drives and cooks and other people who didn't meet that criteria. thank you very much for your expertise, sir. >> bill: it's august. a whale of a tale to tell by some tourists. not quite a whale. but apparently they got a shark. confirmed. that's why you drink ensure. with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. for the strength and energy to get back to doing... ...what you love. ensure. always be you.

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your insurance on time. tap one little bumper, and up go your rates. what good is having insurance if you get punished for using it? news flash: nobody's perfect. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. switch and you could save $782 on home and auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™ liberty mutual insurance. >> bill: some call it the miracle bridge at a time when funding for infrastructure

improvements is virtually non-existent. today in minnesota you get a brand-new bridge and it is beautiful. douglas kennedy is covering that story live to talk all about it. good morning, douglas. >> there are over 100,000 bridges in this country that need to be repaired or replaced. it's a fact not lost on locals here in minnesota. >> we're very excited to just -- it's like a kid at christmas. >> you've heard of the bridge to nowhere. this was the bridge that was going nowhere. they were trying to build this bridge for almost 50 years. >> lack of funding was a big problem. lack of cooperation between federal agencies and even in some cases state and local agencies. just the inability to sometimes get along. >> he is from the st. croix economic development cop ration who wanted the completion of the st. croix crossing that connects eastern minnesota with

person wisconsin. experts on infrastructure say it's a miracle that bridge was built at all. infrastructure is difficult to get funded at this point and in particular bridges. >> it's a really difficult time right now. we've got a lot of needs throughout the country. a lot of functionally obsolete bridges. >> it wasn't just the 650 million price tag. the bridge had been opposed by major political stalwarts like former vice president walter mondale. environmental group staged protests and filed lawsuits but then two women from opposite ends of the aisle came together. in 2012 minnesota senator amy klobuchar, a democrat. joined forces with michele bachmann, a republican. >> an unlikely coupling that created the energy to change people's minds. >> democrats, republicans, local, state, federal, at one point they decided to come

together and low and behold the project occurred. >> and low and behold, bill, this bridge was built at an unlikely time in a very unlikely way. that's it from here. back to you. >> bill: beautiful stuff, st. croix. nice to see you there in minnesota. thank you. >> shannon: president trump set to speak in the roosevelt room at the white house in about 30 minutes. he and two republican senators are expected to detail a new bill on immigration reform making over the system. we'll take you there live to the white house when that begins. patients that i see that complain about dry mouth,

they feel like they have to drink a lot of water. medications seem to be the number one cause for dry mouth. dry mouth can cause increased cavities, bad breath, oral irritation. i like to recommend biotene. biotene has a full array of products that replenishes the moisture in your mouth. biotene definitely works. it makes patients so much happier.

>> shannon: southern california family on a fishing boat getting quite the show. that is a shark. that's 18 miles offshore. after taking bait for a much smaller fish, it's believed that shark is about 400 pounds. i've been deep-sea fishing,

comey crazy, but i feel like they know that they have an audience >> bill: the shark knows it's august, which is the best month at all. have a great one. >> jon: we begin on the fox news alert today, big day at the white house. president trump just moments ago signing the sanctions bill punishing russia for meddling in the 2016 russian election -- u.s. election. a new bill will cut legal immigrations in half. welcome to "happening now," i'm jon scott. >> molly: i molly line. in just a few moments, senators david purdue of georgia and tom cotten of arkansas will join the president to introduce the bill