kaedyn's technology teacher. the surgery took place tuesday and so far everything looks good. that's good news indeed. thanks for joining us, everyone. i'm dana perino. up next, shep smith. >> shepard: verdict watch. it's noon on the west coast. 3:00 alexandria, virginia where president trump's former campaign chairman paupaul manafort is learning to learn his fate. this is the first courtroom showdown in the special counsel russia investigation. we're live at the courthouse waiting for the jury's decision. the former cia director john brennan says president trump's claim of no collusion with the russians is hogwash. now the president admits he revoked brennan's security clearance because of the russia investigation. also, a 7-hour flight to nowhere. the prov bravo star after a jet turned around over the atlantic ocean. wait until you hear why. plus, remembering the queen

of soul, a world of respect aretha franklin. let's get to it. >> now, shepard smith reporting, live from the fox news deck. >> shepard: first from the fox news deck this thursday afternoon, paul manafort's fate is now in the hands of a jury. president trump's one-time campaign chairman faces 15 criminal counts, including bank fraud and tax evasion. the maximum sentence for all of the charges combined is 305 years. prosecutors say manafort hid millions of dollars from the feds so that he could lead a lavish lifestyle, even dropping 15,00 $15,000 on a jact made of ostrich skin. manafort also lied to get loans once the cash stopped coming in from lobbying business including work for a pro-russia political party in ukraine. defense attorneys argue the whole thing, manafort is guilty of, the only thing of which he is guilty is trusting the wrong people,

including the deputy, turned prosecution witness, rick gates. gates cut a deal with the feds and pleaded guilty to lying, conspiracy and lying to investigators. the defense lawyers went right after gates' credibility, pointing out he admitted lying and stealing from manafort. for his part, paul manafort has pleaded not guilty to all charges in this first trial in the special counsel robert mueller's russia investigation. it's fox top story and peter doocy is on it live at the courthouse in alexandria, virginia, just outside the district. peter? >> shep, the jury has now been deliberating for more than five hours. they are charged with coming up with 18 unanimous different verdicts for the 18 charges. and we don't know how long they are going to be there. they do not have to finish by the close of business which has been 5:30 here at the court in alexandria, they could come out 10 minutes from now or come out at midnight. we just do not know it is completely up to them and how long it takes. they are deliberating today

in a break room because the jury room was apparently too tight and that's something the judge actually apologized for. he says that he helped design the court and he paid more attention to the time to his own quarters. the judge told jurors all those comments he made snapped at the mueller team for having bad manners or going too slow or asking questions should be ignored while they are there in the break room. we are told paul manafort is in the building today even though his -- the judge is not addressing him directly right now, that's because once the verdict is reached, it's going to be announced in open court about 10 to 15 minutes later. shep. >> shepard: the defense, peter, has really attacked rick gates' credibility. what has the prosecution said about that? >> they conceded with heir closing arguments that the jury might have noticed some inconsistencies with the gates testimony. one of the prosecutors said. this the government is not asking that you take mr. gates' testimony or statements at face value. we are not asking that we

are not asking that you trust each and every word that mr. gates said. we are not asking you to like him, either. what we are asking you to do is consider his testimony and test it and verify it, test it against the testimony of other witnesses and see if it is consistent. but, the defense team, which never offered any witnesses or evidence of their own argued that he came in here, mr. gates, trying to look all clean shaven a real decent person that you could rely upon. well, when the prep of his direct was done on the first question out of the box he fell apart and showed himself to be the liar that he is. there was one thing before the jury started deliberating right as the jury started deliberating that caused quite a stir today recollect shep. that is once they left the room, the judge asked if mr. trump was in the courtroom and people were looking all around to see who is mr. trump? as it turns out there with is a prosecutor named mr. trump and he was in there for something totally unrelated. that did get a laugh out of the defendant paul manafort.

shep? >> shepard: peter doocy on verdict watch. first let's turn to jeffrey kramer former federal prosecutor, assistant u.s. attorney now managing director at the global consulting firm berkeley research group. good to see you. >> good afternoon. >> shepard: say what you want about these witnesses. i have heard it said repeatedly this is a document case. would you agree? >> it is mostly a document case with some witnesses sprinkled, in certainly mr. gates, to give a little life to the documents. because these are a lot of numbers, some complicated transactions. you really do need a guide. planned gates was the guide. >> shepard: when you look at the evidence as presented, how do you see it? >> you know, this, as far as a prosecutor, and i probably tried 50 or so cases a loft them several months in length financials. this is a pretty straightforward case. it was quick. they had the documents they needed. they had a cooperator who had a plea agreement. who wasn't the most truthful person back in the day when

he was committing fraud. that's not unusual. this is a pretty straightforward case that frankly, happens dozens of times a year in federal court. the federal conviction rate is over 90%. that's not a coincidence. these are strong cases that prosecutors bring. >> shepard: if you are the defense, what you want to do is create doubt or find doubt and present it to jurors. is there a part of the case that you would sees a weakest for these prosecutors? >> well, certainly gates was the weakest but not more weak in this case than any other case. but that is something that the prosecutors, that's the only card they had to play. they couldn't present any evidence. there is no character evidence you could put forth on manafort. there is no fact witnesses. all you could do, which is what the defense did is point at gates and hope that resonates with one jury. the defense doesn't need unanimous verdict. the defense needs one juror to thank this trial. they are hoping the contempt

for mr. gates by one juror will rise to the day. >> shepard: you said there wasn't much the defense could do. they could have put manafort on the stand not that they should have but they could have. >> they absolutely could have. that would have been a huge hole for the prosecutor to walk through. defendants don't usually testify at trials. certainly not when faced when this kind of documentary evidence. i think putting mr. manafort on the stand would have been a tragedy. the only thing can you do as a defense lawyer is keep the prosecution to their burden beyond a reasonable doubt, point at mr. gates a lot and hope it works. >> shepard: what is the point of no return for paul manafort as it relates to turning states' evidence and mitigating any damages here? >> yeah, that's a good question. and that time frame is short. after, if there is a guilty verdict, there will be pre-sentence report, which the report given to the judge to consider before sentencing. now, normally, sentencing might be pushed off several weeks or a month.

virginia is very quick. so you would anticipate a few weeks before sentencing. so if mr. manafort has some information to give, and he wants to reveal that to mr. mueller in exchange for a sentence recommendation, he probably has a few weeks to make that decision. but, also, keep in mind he has another trial coming up in the district of columbia. there is another one coming his way. so he is going to have to hope to make some sort of global resolution with the two case. >> shepard: should they not get a guilty verdict on some or all of those counts, how much of of a concern is that for the mueller investigation at large? >> you know, usually it's 18 counts, if they get 14 guilties, a couple hung and an acquittal or something it really doesn't matter as far as sentencing. it was indicated before on just the numbers is he looking at 300 years. that's obviously not what any sentence would be. but realistically looking at a dozen years or so in prison if he is convicted of all 18 counts sphevment

convicted of 10 counts. is he probably looking at the same dozen years that really doesn't matter as much you get a couple convictions to get to sentencing. he is a 69-year-old guy who is looking at a lot of jail time. >> shepard: jeffrey cramer, thanks a lot. i appreciate it. >> certainly. >> shepard: some breaking news now on fox news channel. the secretary of state mike pompeo just moments ago announced a new group to lead the united states policy on iran. the so-called iran action group. secretary pompeo said the group will be focused on changing the regime's behavior. >> president trump has instituted a campaign of pressure, deterrence and solidarity with a long suffering iranian people. our hop is that one day soon we can preach a knew agreement with iran we must see major changes in behavior both inside and outside of the borders. too many people in the world are demanding that iran finally act like a normal nation. >> shepard: president trump announced three months ago that the united states would pull out of the iran nuclear deal.

then just last week, the administration reimposed some sanctions on that country. and in november, the u.s. can add even more. this coming november, targeting iran's oil industry. in a cabinet meeting today the treasury secretary steve mnuchin talked about the financial punishment. >> the rollout of the iran nuclear sanctions is going extremely well. we're working closely with secretary pompeo, strongest sanctions in preventing things there. >> shepard: the president warned our allies last week that any nation doing business with iran will not be doing business with the united states. european leaders say they will protect any europeans doing legitimate business with iran. the president of iran has said that he will not negotiate with the united states while sanctions are still on the table. and he warned the u.s. just last month war with iran would be the mother of all wars. president trump responded that another threat like that would result in consequences, quoting now, the likes of which few

throughout history have ever suffered before. rich edson is live at the state department. rich? >> shep, this is an effort here at the state department to consolidate the iran policy. it's an effort to try to convince companies and countries to stop doing business with iran. brian hook is a stop official here at the state department. is he going to lead this effort. he says the ultimate goal of iran is to get it to change its behavior. >> when you look at the kind of money that iran provides to assad and to she shia milit. >> hook is already leading the effort to convince those countries to cut off iran. the problem for the administration is that in particular, the european countries have told their companies to continue doing business with iran, to defy these new reimposed u.s. sanctions. the europeans are trying to hold the iran nuclear

agreement together. they want the ability to be able to tell their companies they can conduct business as was allowed under the iran nuclear deal and they are trying to move this forward without the u.s. so there is an amount of friction and a significant amount upon u.s. and europe on, this shep. >> there is escalating fight now with turkey. >> there is. the treasury secretary and the president of the united states have just said you don't release pastor brun son who has been jailed in turkey for the past couple of years, we are going to increase sanctions against you. there were additional sanctions on two turkish officials earlier this month and now they are telegraphing that they could be preparing more if turkey doesn't release brunson, shep? >> shepard: rich edson at the state department on a fluid day. rich, thanks. backlash is building after president trump stripped the former cia director john brennan of his security clearance. and the president says his reason for that was the russia investigation. senators back in session now and responding to the president's decision. we'll have reaction from both sides of the aisle,

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so, i'm doing all i can to stay in his life. be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. >> shepard: president trump is admitting now the decision to revoke john brennan's security clearance was actually rooted in the raw russia investigation you will. i call it the rigged witch-hunt and it is a sham. and these people led it i

think it's something that had to be done. these people the president mentioned includes several former intelligence officials who have publicly criticized president trump. the white house says the president is reviewing their security clearances as well. earlier today president ignored questions that shouted at him about punishing critics. mr. trump has become more desperate to protect himself and those close to him which is why he made the politically motivated decision to revoke my security clearance in an attempt to scare into silence others who might dare to challenge him. brennan also said the president's claim that there was no collusion with the russians is, and i will quote him. hogwash. but he says there is still a question about whether it was criminal conspiracy. democrats and even some republicans are criticizing the president's action, other republicans are defending the move. our chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel

is live on capitol hill. hi, mike. >> shep, good afternoon. maine republican senator susan collins says there is plenty of blame to go around. she makes the case that both president trump and john brennan are wrong in this case. >> i do believe that his continually attacking the president in very political sterms is a disservicis a dissee intelligence he once had. nevertheless, i do not see the grounds for revoking his security clearance. >> south carolina republican senator lindsey graham a frequent ally of the president says he thinks john brennan deserved it. >> when you look at cia policy about how former directors should behave, they indicate that a former director should act still a member of the organization. mr. brennan has gone way over the line. >> other conservatives say their constituents would ask why john brennan needs a security clearance since he

left public service when president trump took office, shep? >> shepard: no question here, democrats are wholeheartedly criticizing the president on this matter. >> no doubt about it senate democratic leader schumer talked to reporters just moments ago and he said he thinks president trump is doing this trying to create a distraction. >> when you are in trouble in one way and then you create trouble for yourself in another way, i don't think that serves the president's purposes, you know, all these theories well, is he trying to distract from one thing to move to another, he is doing one bad thing and then doing another bad thing. i don't think that helps him. >> a democrat on the senate intelligence panel says is he convinced this is political pay back. >> this is not normal times, so, those decisions should be made for whatever reason and let people make their own conclusion on why. i just think this is sad that it's gotten to where politics has come to this. >> democrats say the president should not be trying to silence his

critics. shep? >> shepard: mike emanuel live on capitol hill. the queen of soul died this morning. we'll look back at aretha franklin's life and legacy from a church choir in detroit to the billboard charts and becomes the first woman in the rock and roll hall of fame. her stretches decades and respect is everywhere today. ♪ ♪ the fact is, there are over ninety-six hundred roads named "park" in the u.s. it's america's most popular street name. but allstate agents know that's where the similarity stops. if you're on park street in reno, nevada, the high winds of the washoe zephyr could damage your siding. and that's very different than living on park ave in sheboygan, wisconsin, where ice dams could cause water damage. but no matter what park you live on, one of 10,000 local allstate agents knows yours.

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♪ you make me feel ♪ you make me feel ♪ you make me feel like a natural woman ♪ >> shepard: she once said if she could inspire people, she had done her job.

mission accomplished. aretha franklin died today. she was 76 years old, but her influence will live forever with 18 grammies and more than 70 mits on the billboard top 100, her six decade career is almost impossible to match. she was the first woman to make it into the rock and roll hall of fame. she took a little song called respect originally written from the perspective of a man demanding respect from his wife and flipped that thing. turning r-e-s-p-e-c-t. no wonder she earned the nickname the queen of soul. our mike tobin is in the midwest newsroom. >> one of the ground breaking voices to come out of detroit. it becomes staggering when you look at the full life and list of accomplishments. you got into some of them. 20 number one hits on the r and b charts. 100 number one songs charted by billboard. three music awards.

three image awards. golden of globe. presidential medal of freedom. harvard degrees princeton, brown and berkeley. none of those include the titles of mother, grand mother or dear friend. she has been connected with detroit. born in memphis 1942, moved to detroit when her father took over new bethel baptist church. it was through that church and gospel music that the world came to know her voice. you would be very hard-pressed today to find someone who did not immediately think of the song ranked by the national endowment for the arts as number four in the songs of the century ♪ ♪ just a little bit ♪ just a little bit. >> that was originally written by otis. flipped the gender spelled out r-e-s-p-e-c-t. it became a demand for dig any city. ottis said she done took my song. it was the song think that

came to most of the world through the blues brother movie ♪ think ♪ think about it ♪ think >> and that performance introduced her to the 80's generation, the mtv crowd and paved the way to hits like pink cadillac. she moved back to detroit in the 1980s after her father got shot she moved back there. she told the detroit free press my roots is there, the church is there. that's where she battled a series of illnesses. her family tried to keep it quiet. we learned that franklin had moved into hospice care. surrounded by loved ones when she passed at 9:50 this morning. cause of death pancreatic cancer. dead at 76 years old. >> shepard: spotify top of the featured play list today all aretha, you should collect it lots of celebrities taking to social media to pay tribute. big names. >> diana ross treated i'm

sitting in prayer for the wonderful golden spirit aretha franklin. he will ton john tweeted the loss of aretha franklin is a blow for everybody who loves real music. music from the heart, the soul, and the church. her voice was unique. her piano playing underrated. she was one of my favorite pepeepianists. >> take a moment to give thanks for the beautiful life of aretha franklin the beautiful soul who inspired us for many, many years. she will be missed for memory of her greatness as a musician and fine human being will live with us forever. love paul. >> screen doesn't want to cooperate. >> screen is stuck today. brittany spears tweeted the world lost an incredibly talented woman today. rest in peace aretha franklin your legacy and music will forever inspire us and future generations.

and oprah said we'll miss you queen, #aretha queen forever. a lot of different people paying their respects. >> a lot of love all over the world. thank you. we lost a another member of music royalty on this same day. the queen of soul and the king of rock and roll elvis presley both died now on august the 16th. of course, elvis died back in 1977 at his grace land mansion in memphis. he was 42. aretha lives on. and we'll be right back. ♪ ♪

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chantix reduced my urge to smoke. i needed that to quit. when you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix, you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. some people had changes in behavior or thinking, aggression, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, or suicidal thoughts or actions with chantix. serious side effects may include seizures, new or worse heart or blood vessel problems, sleepwalking or allergic and skin reactions which can be life-threatening. stop chantix and get help right away if you have any of these. tell your healthcare provider if you've had depression or other mental health problems. decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. use caution when driving or operating machinery. the most common side effect is nausea. i can't tell you how good it feels to have smoking behind me. talk to your doctor about chantix. >> i'm lea gabrielle with a fox report and more of today's headlines, rescue workers helping two window washers at the united nations today. the new york city fire

department reports that are scaffolding stopped working and a washer got trapped all the way up on the 3rd floor. crews had to break windows to get to them. meantime, a family in chicago suing the police claiming the officers raided the wrong apartment. the pair say the cops pointed guns at their two children back in november after smashing through the door while screaming. according to the lawsuit, the suspects were actually on the floor above them. chicago's law department not commenting on the lawsuit. and some new video from california showing a fire tornadoes that led to the death of a firefighter. fire officials say strong winds pushed the spinning column which is about the size of three football fields. at last check the carr family was 71% contained. the news continues with shepard smith right after this.s. nts your eyes can lose as you age. it has lutein, zeaxanthin and omega-3. ocuvite. be good to your eyes.

>> shepard: days after a grand jury in pennsylvania released a report on sex abuse in the catholic church, still no reaction from the vatican at all. that, as victims are calling

for the catholic church to take some responsibility. the report accuses 300 priests of abusing more than 1,000 children over seven decades. we've reported on some of the gut wrenching accusations. for example, priests allegedly using religious symbols like cross necklaces to mark their victims. the grand jury named six of the 8 diocese in pennsylvania. several of them released statements expressing sorrow and concern for the victims. the report also charged church leaders of covering up the abuse and convincing, in some cases, police not to investigate what was reported. now, some of those church officials are denying the accusations against them. and our chief religion correspondent lauren green has that. lauren? >> hey, shep. well, you know, the pennsylvania attorney general says this goes all the way to the vatican. and shows church officials covered it up for decades. one of the highest ranking bishops named 15 times in the report is cardinal donald worrell the arch

buyer bishop of washington, d.c. he was the archbishop 1998 to 2006. he spoke to wttg defending his handling of priests accused of abuse. >> i have tried to do my very best to deal with this whole question of allegations against a priest. now, remember, we are talking about a long spectrum of time so how we dealt with things in the late 1980s, early 19990s is different than the way we would today. >> wuerl also dismissed allegations that he and other church officials showed only disdain with victims. he met with anyone who came forward. shep? >> shepard: lauren, i mentioned that we haven't heard from the vatican, haven't heard from the pope. what have they been doing about this problem? >> well, you are absolutely right, shep. you know, a lot of criticism is directed at the vatican for not responding yet. the pope has accepted the resignation of five issue

will shops from chili after detailing the reports of sex abuse there. he denounced what he called the culture of abuse and coverup. for the victims, whatever the church does now will never be enough. >> what is impossible to get over and i say that again impossible to get over is the systemic coverup from the moral, faith-based roman catholic church that my parents entrusted with my life. >> meanwhile lawmakers in pennsylvania will work to lift the statute of limitations. this report resulted in only two priests being prosecuted. and watchdog groups hope the report will spur other states to open their own investigations. so, we could be seeing just the tip of the iceberg. shep? >> shepard: lauren green in new york. police in colorado say they found the body of a pregnant woman and are still looking for the bodies of her two young daughters.

the husband accused of killing them all. this happened in frederick, colorado, about 35 miles north of denver. earlier this week, the suspect begged for his family's safe return on national television saying things like it's a nightmare i can't wake up from. but, instead, investigators say the father killed his two daughters, 4-year-old stella and 3-year-old celeste and his wife 34-year-old shannon watts who is pregnant with their third child jonathan hunts live in west coast newsroom. >> the husband in this case apparently told police exactly where he had left the bodies of his wife and daughters and a short time ago officials confirmed they have found one body by anna petroleum. the company for whom crirch watts works.

listen here to those officials. >> at this point we have been able to recover a body that we're quite certain is shannon watts body. we have strong reason to believe that we nosy where the bodies of the children are and recovery efforts are in process o on. >> now, shannon and the two girls disappeared monday after she returned from a business trip around 2:00 a.m. that morning. she was supposed to meet friends later monday afternoon. she did not show up and that is when one of those friends called the police, shep. >> shepard: so the husband initially claiming he knew nothing and was all upset but now he has confessed? >> yeah, within 24 hours of their disappearance being reported, christopher watts was talking to local tv reporter. listen to this. >> shannon, if you are out there, please, come home. >> police say that at that

precise point, watts knew exactly where his wife and daughters were. he had, in fact, already killed them, dumped the bodies, yet, continued to claim he knew absolutely nothing. watch again. >> it's not something i could ever ever fathom would happen in my lifetime and i have no inclination of where she is. she said she was going to a friend's house with the kids and that's the last thing i heard that was it that was very vegas. >> now, watts is due in court in just about one hour's time, shep, for a bond hearing. formal charges, we're told, will be filed by monday at the latest we are told by the county jail where is he being held that those charges will include at least three charges of first degree murder. shep? >> shepard: jonathan hunt reporting for us. investigators say they are getting so many tips about the missing college student

mollie tibbets that they have had to add another internet server. so far no sign of mollie at all nearly a month after she was last seen jogging in her hometown in central iowa. there were also reports that investigators were close to arresting some potential suspects, including somebody who was attended a vigil for mollie. officials said those reports were r. not true. no suspects. meantime mollie's father telling fox news that he thinks his daughter is still alive. >> what we need the rest of the community to do is to jog their memories or find the courage to come forward with the information that will bring mollie back. i still believe she is out there. i still believe we can bring her home safely. it's just going to require that someone brings that information. >> shepard: a reward for information at least for her safe return is now more than $400,000. ahead the feds say nearly 50,000 americans died from

overdosing on opioids in just the past year. 50,000. now the president is calling for his attorney general to sue big drug makers. plus, there is word the president wants to roll back rules on how the u.s. launches cyber attacks. the details on those stories coming up. ♪ ♪ if you have psoriasis, ... little things can be a big deal. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats moderate to severe plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla . it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with... ...an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have  a history of depression or suicidal thoughts,... ...or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines and if you're pregnant or planning to be.

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>> shepard: there is breaking news now on fox news channel. lauren green reported to us a short time ago on the developments regarding the pennsylvania priest sex scandal and we reported that we had not yet had any statement from the vatican. that's just changed. the holy sea has just released a statement which i will read to you regarding the report made public in pennsylvania this week there are two words that can express the feeling, faced with this horrible crimes, shame and sorrow. the holy sea treats with great seriousness the work of the investigation of the grand jury of pennsylvania and the lengthy interim report that it has produced.

the holy sea condemns unequivocally the sexual abuse of minors. the abuses described in the report are criminal and morally enprehence cybil. those acts were betrayals of trust that robs survivors of their dignities and of their faith. the church must learn hard lessons from its past and there should be accountability for both accusers and those who permitted abuse to occur. most of the discussion in the report concerns abuses before the early days of the 2,000s. by finding almost no cases after the year 2002, conclusions are consistent with previous studies showing that the catholic church reforms in the united states drastically reduced the incidence of clergy child abuse. the holy sea encourages continued reform and vigilance at all levels of the catholic church to help ensure the protection of minors and vulnerable adults from harm. the holy sea also wants to underscore the need to

comply with the civil law, including mandatory child abuse reporting requirement. the holy father understands well how much these crimes can shake the faith and the spirit of believers and reiterates the call to make every effort to create a safe environment for minors and vulnerable adults in the church and in all of society. victims should know that the hope is on their side, those who have suffered are his priority and the church wants to listen to them to root out this tragic wh horror that destroys the lives of the be in the. the new statement just out from the vatican and the united states there is a legislation moving its way through that could either reduce or eliminate the statute of limitations on such crimes on most of those document dollars idocumented dif the eight in that state the statute of lim limitations has run out. president trump telling

attorney general sessions bring lawsuits against companies that make opioids. the president accusing chinese and medication can companies of worsening america 79 opioid crisis by sending powerful painkillers in to the u.s. >> in china have you some pretty big companies sending that garbage and killing our people. it's almost a form of warfare and i would like to do whatever you can do legally to stop it from china and from mexico. >> shepard: several states have already filed lawsuits against opioidmakers and distributers. the fox business network blake burman with the news live at the white house. blake? >> hi there, shepard. we have seen states engage in lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies the makers of opioid drugs all across the country. in fact, just this week new york state sued the manufacturer behind the popular drug oxycontin. in some cases the federal government, the department of justice has thrown its weight behind those lawsuits. but, today, during a cabinet meeting, president trump said he wants to go a step further than that. these were the instructions

from president trump to his attorney general jeff sessions. >> i would like us to look at some of the litigations already started with companies rather than just joining them. i would like to bring a federal lawsuit against those companies. >> sobering numbers this week for the centers for disease control. the cdc reported this week that roughly 72,000 people in the u.s.s. died of a drug overdose last year. the majority of those 49,000 from opioids. synthetic fentanyl alone killing 29,000 people. during that exchanges there with the attorney general, the president also expressed his concern with synthetic fentanyl that is being sent over from china and in some cases routed through mexico before it makes its way into the u.s. the attorney general sessions assuring the president, shepard, that they are returning some indictments in those cases. >> shepard: blake burman from fox business live on the north lawn. there is word now that president trump is looking to relax the rules on how and when the united states

can launch cyber attacks against our adversaries. our corporate cousins at the "wall street journal" broke this story. it would be the latest reversal of policy that his predecessor, president obama, put into place. the national security correspondent jennifer griffin with the news live at the pentagon. jennifer? >> shepard, senior defense officials would not comment on the record to me but told me much of what is described in the "wall street journal" piece will be address you had in the pentagon cyber security review, a month long review that is awaiting approval by defense secretary mattis. at issue is a classified presidential policy directive signed by president obama in 2012 that mapped out an elaborate enter agency process for how the u.s. government employs cyber attacks. some officials felt they were too constrained by these rules of engagement. the program was revealed in 2013 by rogue nsa contractor edward snowden. the "wall street journal" is reporting president trump signed an order reversing

the obama era restraints on wednesday. u.s. officials will not confirm that due to the classified nature of the program. according to the journal, national security advisor john bolton began trying to get the regulations eased as soon as he took over. the idea is to make it easier for the u.s. government to use cyber weapon and military operations to thwart election interference for one and halt incident election actual property theft. shep? >> shepard: some former national security officials say they are really kind of worried about the changes to this presidential directive. >> well, the concern amongst some national security officials current and former, is that by unraveling presidential policy directive number 20, there could be confusion among various u.s. government entities about who is doing what in cyber cyberspace. in other words u.s. military cyber command could carry out a cyber attack that might interfere with a cyber espionage operation being conducted by the intelligence community without realizing it, this policy directive signed by

obama, built on bush era framework establishing rules of the road when the u.s. government set up cyber commands and cyber became a new battlefield. the concern is that u.s. entities may not know when they are stepping on each other in cyberspace without the framework that currently exists, shep. >> shepard: jennifer griffin live for us, thank you. breaking right now, remember that the president has revoked the security clearance of the former cia director john brennan. well, now, another big name who is also former has said if you are going to do that, revoke mine, too. the details on this brand new development right after this.

>> shepard: prompter.

we have just gotten some new information into the fox news channel and i've just cut and pasted into that page float 2 andy that because this has just come as a op-ed in the "the washington post." written by william |1 mc 0 raven who is william mc cravenal operations command from 2011 to 2014. he oversaw the navy seal raid the pakistan that killed usama bin laden. he writes this as an open letter. dear, mr. president, the former cia director john brennan whose security clearance you revoked on wednesday is one of the private public servants i have ever known. fewer citizens have done more to protect this country than john. is he a man of unparalleled integrity whose honesty and character has never been in question except those who don't know him. therefore i would consider it an honor if you would revoke my security clearance as well so i can add my name to the list of men and women who have spoken against your

presidency. he goes on like most americans: i had hoped when you became president, you would rise to the occasion and become the leader this great nation needs. a good leader tries to embody the best qualities of his or her organization. a good leader sets the example for others to follow. a good leader always puts the welfare of others before himself or herself. your leadership, however, has shown little of these qualities through your actions you have embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation. if you think for a moment that your mccarthy era tactics will suppress the voices of criticism you are sadly mistaken. the criticism will continue until you become the leader we prayed you would be. and we'll be right back. ♪ ♪

>> shep: 1994, the first smartphone went on sale. it was from ibm, not apple. simon had a touch screen with email capability and some things that they called apps. they were called features actually, back then. the phones could send faxes. very high tech at the time. simon also had limitations. it weighed more than a pound, cost about a thousand dollars, and the battery lasted an hour if you're lucky. but paved the way for modern devices. after the assignment went on sale, 24 years ago. earlier in this hour, we told you about a pretty wacky flight that was headed to europe, and then turned around. andy cohen was on that, and -- things couldn't happen. we will tell you about that on facebook watch. 2 minutes after 4:00 p.m. eastern time, 2 minutes 15 seconds from now.

the fox news update on fox watch live streaming. breaking news changes everything on fox news channel. "your world with neil cavuto" starts right now. >> security clearance. how about folks buying stuff on clearance? bigger economic story by far. welcome everyone, i am neil cavuto, and is a "your world" ." i don't know about that. the retail giant was soaring, the economy is booming, and the market is telling washington, they can relax about all of this bickering. the fox business network, why are they spending and why that could be important data that you're getting to look at. >> you're right. consumer spending is up and retailers are benefiting.