what do you think? >> they should rightly be concerned. a lot of people do not have health care. 47 million americans do not have health care. they have to figure out what to do if they get sick or if their children get sick. that is going to cost us billions of dollars in health- care monday. -- in health care money. martha: how are we going to do that? the public option seems to be disappearing. even the blue dog bill says it is optional. i do not really understand. according to these bills, how are we going to insure the uninsured? >> that is what the legislative process is all about. everybody likes to look elsewhere vr on one given day. in reality, that is what the legislative process is. this is not finished.

this is just the beginning. yes, president obama has put a lot of pressure on lawmakers to come up with something quickly. that is because we have not been able to fix this bad system for over 60 years. the american people need to understand that if they like their doctor, nothing will change. martha: that is what they are told. it strikes me all the time when i talk to people. nobody believes simit. >> look at why they do not have health care insurance. since we have the passage of the democrats stimulus package, the department of labor has determined that 1.5 million jobs have been lost. i am pretty sure they have health care insurance with those jobs. we try to switch and datbait. we are pushing a lot of stimulus money to ge.

it is not going to work. if the blue dog democrats want this to work, they need to do some town hall meetings in their home districts. martha: i do not think anybody understands this. larry, i know you are watching this. in some ways, it would be much more simplified if someone said these are the people we believe is uninsured. the number is all over the place. here's a concrete plan about how we're going to extend health insurance to these people. what are you making of this? >> if the white house had to do it over, they would give less leeway to congress and be more definite about what the plan was going to be specifically, which taxes would be raised, and what the specific effect would be. why is public support dwindling? it is dwindling because more and

more people think their taxes will be raised, that the plan cost too much, that it will interfere with their own health- care plans. 80% of americans are happy with current health care. so many of the points the president was trying to make a originally, they have been lost in the discussion. the fact that this has meandered all over capitol hill -- you have had every subcommittee chairman, not just the committee chairman, not just the leadership in thosboth houses sy they will raise taxes -- so many headlines have been generated that people believe something will happen that will not happen. martha: that is a very succinct look. >> i think that is true. i think that is why you see president obama go out every day to talk about this.

i think it is unfair that he has been talking about the large printers from the very beginning. -- he has been talking about the large parameters from the very beginning. martha: people say, based on what? i heard somebody calling in to a show on the way to work and the white house responded, nothing will change. people are having a hard time with that. martha>> that is why the presidt continues to talk about this. martha: they need a plan that they're talking about to that seems to be missing. >> this is not calling to contribute to the deficit. martha: that is the pie in the sky idea. >> he has said that if he

receives a bill that is not deficit neutral, he will veto it. martha: i guess it will be vetoed. >> at the end of the day, the stimulus package was pushed through. obama said he would veto any bill that had pourerk in it. how can the american people know that? the proof is in the pudding. what the american people have seen is not the campaign promises. >> we have already seen good signs of economic recovery. martha: thank you. we got it all worked out. rick: i am glad you got it sorted out for us.

the deadliest mass shooting in modern u.s. history. five faculty members and 27 students shot dead at virginia tech two years ago. the killer was declared mentally ill. at least one professor urged him to get help. suddenly medical records disappeared, until now. we will talk to a mother whose daughter was wounded in that tr.

rick: we have the new information on three big stories. the house reaching a deal on health care as the president hit steve rolls the road. >> president obama headed to virginia for the second town hall of the day. provisions include no discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions and

limiting out-of-pocket cost. blue dog democrats agreed to deal with their leadership. it would cut costs by $100 billion. rick: thank you very much. it is summertime, but some folks are looking at very dangerous temperatures today. how hot? >> brutal heat and all-time record highs. yesterday, oregon saw temperatures of 106. elsewhere across the country, we are dealing with some strong storms. we have a thunderstorm watch box for parts of the mid-atlantic and parts of the northeast. expects severe storms with gusty winds.

rick: thank you very much. $700 million for horse birth control. we kid you not. william la jeunesse, what have you got? >> i am in california. the federal protection for about 40 years. in the past, adoptions of these animals would keep the numbers in balance, but there's now an overpopulation problem. the democratic bill appropriates $700 million for home inspections and birth control. republicans say it is simply too much. the argument now heads to the senate. back to you. rick: that is you news whip. martha: it was a day many of us

will never forget, april 16, 2007. a crazed gunman opened fire at the virginia tech campus. he shot two students at the dorm and then made his way to a classroom, killing 30 other people. 17 other people were injured. he finally took his own life. many of the families of victims -- they want the governor of virginia to reopen this investigation into the massacre. following the news that cho, his mental records, and he had a significant mental health history -- the records were missing when they did the investigation. now, in a mysterious new twist, they have been found.

it turns out that the former director of the university counseling center took them home and left them in his house. now he discovered there they are. it is a strange development. among those who would like to hear more is this young lady's mother. she was in the classroom of that horrible day. she was laying on the ground near the back of the classroom when two bullets praised her school -- grazed her skull. it is good to have you with us today. just so people remember what this was like, tell me about your experience that depend. -- tell me about your experience that day. >> it was isa surreal day.

obviously, my outcome was much luckier outcome. family called me -- family called me -- emily called me. the day proceeded from there. my husband and i went to the hospital. martha: it is obvious that this is still so fresh for you. i cannot imagine it would be any other way. your daughter was laying there and she thought to yourself at one point, maybe i'm not just dead yet. she knew she had been hit. your family had a miraculously outcome. tell me why your reaction was when you heard that the mental records of seung-hui cho were sitting in the director of counseling's house. he did not reveal the during the entire investigation. but that not be in -- what does

not the information that was necessary as part of this? >> i was stunned. it was difficult to digest the first. it was unbelievable. the notion that this gentleman had these records and forgot them -- oops, i do not know why they're there. it is unbelievable. i find it offensive. martha: he had a medical history. he had been declared medically ill by a judge at one time. these things can happen in life, of course, but this is something you want the campus to be aware of. a professor recommended that he seek additional counseling. >> that is correct. i'm not aware of what is in those records. i am not aware of the record- keeping standards.

i do know that when this man left, he said he took paperwork home with him. at the time the investigation was taking place and the media weeks and months after the shooting, did it just never occurred to him that they're looking for papers? maybe i should go look in the basement. i find that hard to believe. frankly, i do not believe him. he said it was inadvertent. i do not believe that. martha: this is robert miller, the former director of the va counseling center. there are other families involved to say we will not learn anything from all of this and they do not want to reopen the investigation. >> how can we know? we have not seen those records. we have not seen other

information that has come to light. the panel members are the experts. there are the persons on the state of virginia that the governor chose to do this job. they deserve the opportunity to look at the files, to look at the records. they deserve the opportunity to question dr. miller. the university officials told the panel members that dr. miller was no longer employed at virginia tech. none of the panel members interviewed dr. miller at the time of the investigation. martha: it is very odd. lori haas, thank you for sharing your story with us. thank you. rick: a teenaged girl kidnapped and ordered to call her parents before she is brutally murdered in her car in los angeles. could a few words could have

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martha: the blue dog democrats, the fiscally conservative democrats, and the folks who serve on the commerce and energy committee have a deal on health care. you have three bills that are being finished on the house side. what does it mean for you? we will talk about that. in the middle box, dow is down 62 points to . in bottom box, iran announces that the first trials of post- election protesters will begin. rick: a beautiful high school student kidnapped and murdered over the weekend in los angeles. police say the 17-year-old was the victim of a botched robbery. the suspect held her captive and

made her call her parents twice asking them how to withdraw money from ann atm. hours later, police found her body in a car. she was beaten to death. a few words might have saved her life. the former deputy district attorney is our guest. our hearts go out to this family. it is a tragic situation. as a prosecutor, what can you imagine was going on while she was forced to make these calls? >> it is an awful situation and no one can predict how someone would feel in a moment of tragedy. it is a high stress time. people react differently. in her mind, she might have

wanted to give the benefit of the doubt to the perfect stranger. like a lot of people, she does not want to appear racist or gender bias. sometimes we need to forgo political correctness and be a little bit judgmental when it comes to our own safety. rick: what are the lessons for parents everywhere to talk to their young kids and to help them prevent this kind of thing from happening to them? or to know what to do in the event that it does. you mentioned something called a secret code. >> a code word is a wonderful way to tipoff to a concerned parent, especially in this situation where she had the opportunity to call her parents, to be able to give them the signal that there is trouble. i like the code word atm.

everyone should know not to use the phone at the atm. rick: and the other thing you mentioned about cellphones and texting in general. >> technology is something that we like to beat up a lot of the time. this is a situation where technology can be our friend. cellphones can be programmed. you can also use technology to pocket dial. at least to have someone who can hear what is going on. also, utilize the gps. rick: it is very important information. thank you very much for your time. martha: there's breaking news on

the h1n1 virus. cdc has new information on how all of this is developing and you will need to hear it as we get ready to send the kids back to school. where do you think the word influenza really comes from? we will tell you in a few minutes. plenty of fish in the sea. scientists have found a way to count them. i'm very skeptical. how do you know that you did not just to see that this go by? . i was in the grocery store when i had a heart attack. my daughter was with me. i took a bayer aspirin out of my purse and chewed it. my doctor said the bayer aspirin saved my life.

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martha: there's something fishy

going on in florida. divers are trying to id, document, and count every type of fish. phil keating is in miami. what is going on? >> they are all going down there with special waterproof equipment. they take guides. they're going under water and they're counting all of the fish. the florida keys has the third largest barrier reef in the world. it is a massive fish count. martha: incredible.

are they saying between 30 and 50, or are they go lead one, two, three, four, five. >> it is a very good, broad picture. if they see one, they put down one. if they stayed two to ten, they put down a few. if there are many, then you will put abundant. then they average it out. they intend to get a pretty good idea. >> i think i see nemo. what do we do with this data? >> more importantly, it is all about knowledge and scientific

research material which can be utilized by policy makers. for example, the giant fish was so heavily fished that fish counters realized it needed to be protected to date have discovered one new fish. a specific type of star fish has not been seen. martha: thank you, phil keating. rick: breaking news on the swine flu. ever wonder where the term influenza comes from? it has something to do with the stars. it is from the medieval latin influentia.

martha: we will have new details on the swine flu and what the centers for disease control say you need to watch out for as your kids are getting ready to go back to school. this is important information. stay with us. also, the most popular treatments for the swine flu. wait until you hear what can happen. this is the aarp...

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desk." i am martha maccallum. rick: we have brand new stories. in the top box, is america ready for a major flu outbreak? the h1n1 virus comes to capitol hill. in the middle box, keeping you say if every time you fly. in bottom box, what is being called a breakthrough on capitol hill. these so-called blue dogs in reaching a deal on health care plan. our senior producer has been working real hard. this is a breakthrough. only four of the seven blue dots are going for it. >> there were seven blue dog democrats who were holding up

this bill from going through what they call mark up. henry waxman of california was able to bring four of them across the finish line. the way that the deal is right now, it, scot cut costs on rural hospitals and makes the public option optional. the three losers here -- one of them thinks this is not going far enough. the democratic leadership say there will be no vote on the health care reform bill until september. rick: the big question has always been, how do we pay for it. does this go toward answering that question at all? >> that is one of the biggest questions. one of the areas that mike ross, the head of the blue dog

democrats, he said this cuts the cost of the bill by $100 billion. some of that comes from savings, but there's always tax consequences. if they cut out $100 billion, that is 10% of the cost of the bill, which is slated at $1 trillion or so. rick: a lot of people are concerned that there is some sort of the mandate were the small business owners have to provide health insurance, it might keep them from being unable to expand their business. >> that was one of the things that mike ross addressed. there are very cognizant of that. small businesses would have certain mandates -- it would cause a problem. they were trying to protect the small business owners. if they get this out of

committee, there still tend legislative steps that they have to go through to pass this to the white house. rick: there's still a long way to go. thank you very much. martha: a lot of members of congress are speaking out about whether they like this bill or not. here is the leader steny hoyer. >> is obvious that we will not have a bill on the floor this week. the probability is we will not have a bill on the floor until next month -- excuse me, september. we are still talking about that. progress is being made. it has been very positive progress. the senate is marking up as well. we think health care reform is taking another step. there will be a lot of time to review where we are and make

sure we're doing this bill in any position that will be beneficial to the american bible and to our country. to bring costs down, and make sure that every person -- it will be beneficial to the american people and to our country. as i said, we're having discussions. i am hopeful that this will move the bill forward. that is our intent, to provide for a context for which we can get health care reform done when we come back after the august break. martha: hopefully that cleared up some things. let's bring in james rosen on capitol hill. there are so many different moving parts in this plan. it is very difficult for americans to get a handle on exactly what this will look like. bret said we may get something that looks closest to the senate finance committee's version.

what are you hearing on capitol hill? >> the senate finance committee, which is still involved in negotiations over what their version of the bill will look like, separate from a senate version that is already pas sed, is not to do have a public auction. instead, it will have a network of cooperatives. democrats disagreed about that. it will look very different from what ever the house produces. by the end of the day, and looks like the house will have the third of three versions. the blue dog democrat to announce to this breakthrough on the house energy and commerce committee today made it clear, as we heard from steny hoyer, we will not have a vote on this for some time. the democrats wanted to meet the goal of president obama to have this signed before the august recess.

they will not accomplish that. mike ross saw to make a virtue. >> we believe every member of congress should have the opportunity to not only read the bill, but to spend a month of august visiting with constituents about it. we have been tried to get this done since harry truman. i'm confident we will get health care reform done this year. let's not rush it. >> when you see mike ross and the other lawmakers head back to their districts for the august recess, there will be a lot of town halls where these lawmakers will get an earful from the constituents. martha: sounds like some of the republicans got what they wanted and then a little bit more time for all of this to work itself out. perhaps everybody will use the recess to read the 1000 page bill. thank you very much, james

rosen. rick: the new developments on capitol hill happening as the president takes his message to the american people. president obama holding a couple of town hall meetings today. here he is in north carolina. he is putting his focus on consumer protections. he says they will have to be part of any bill that will get his signature. >> what may need and what we will have when we pass these reforms are health insurance consumer protections to make sure that those who have insurance are treated fairly. rick: the president said he wants to set annual caps on how much insurance companies can charge for out-of-pocket expenses and require full coverage for routine tests. president obama will be holding another town hall meeting today in virginia. martha: at one point, lawmakers were considering a plan to pay

for health-care reform by taxing the health benefits that you get from your employer. basically, you health benefits would be in come to you and that would be taxed. in order to know how much that would be, you would have to know how much or health plan was worth. shannon bream joins us from washington trade is the idea of taxing health care benefits in order to pay for the overhaul of the table? what is the latest? >> a few weeks back, there was talk of taxing the benefits that you get in the form of health care from your employer. harry reid said take it off the table. there's a different proposal for the so-called cadillac plans, which have premiums in the neighborhood of $40,000 per year. they are not comment. the thought is taxing the insurance companies that issue those high premium policies.

it is now going after the company's. this is something they just have to keep bubbling on. kent conrad said it is a possibility. thosemax baucus said he may be considering it as well. martha: thank you very much, shannon bream in washington. rick: when we come back, breaking details from the centers for disease control on swine flu. welcome to the now network. population: 49 million.

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rick: a busy news day. in the top box, dow is down 70 points today as president obama says the u.s. may be seeing the beginning of the end of the recession. in the middle box, space shuttle endeavour astronauts are

inspecting the ship. in bottom box, rescue teams are scanning the clear blue waters within for dozens of haitian migrants. more than 100 people were plucked from the water so far. about 70 people are unaccounted for. martha: we are watching capitol hill. the house homeland security committee is getting ready to hold a series on whether this country is ready to face what could become a swine flu pandemic. we are learning that at least six senate pages are spending the summer working on capitol hill -- they are believed to have come down with swine flu. brian wilson, what is this hearing about? >> it is congress doing what it is supposed to do, provide

oversight before there's a problem. many times congress reacts. this is them taking action. the question, are we prepared as a nation should the h1n1 virus comeback? are we prepared for this often talked about pandemic? witnesses include people from the homeland security department. martha: who do they think is the most honorable? -- most vulnerable. >> it is summertime right now. there are six senate pages thought to have h1n1. the big question, is what we saw this spring and what we see now in the non flu months a sign of real problems two,? >> it could be more severe form of the h1n1.

it mutates as it travels. that was perhaps just a dress rehearsal. >> just a dress rehearsal. the experts say it is time to get ready. martha: that is scary. brian wilson, thank you very much. rick: gen an adult, said h1n1 is targeting young people. we expect to hear from someone from the cdc at 3:30 p.m. eastern time. tamiflu is the best way to prevent or help treat the flu. is it safe for young children? a lot of parents are hearing about this potential side effects that include psychological issues. kids on this drug end up doing harm to themselves, studies have shown. what is this about? >> in japan, they could all the children on this told to try to

prevent the epidemic from occurring. there were hallucinations and people jumping out of windows. as with other medications, the risk has to be outweighed. i would watch for signs that the child is becoming euphoric or hallucinogenic. the best thing is hygiene. rick: what about hparents who do not even want to go that route? >> the flu is targeting young, healthy people. young children will be among the first groups to be vaccinated. i believe tamiflu is better. it is a small group of people who were affected. martha: what do you think? are we going to see people dying

from swine flu? >> we have seen unprecedented things. we never saw this before. go back to 1918. the problem came in june. people were joking about this. if history repeats, we aren't going to live a big problem. the vaccine now may not be effective. if it mutates, it will not be effective for that vaccine could we may not have enough tenafami. martha: this vaccine is different. >> the vaccine will be to kill the virus, but what if it mutates? martha: your kind of guessing what is going to be. >> that is right and we have a very antiquated system. rick: news out of the pentagon right now that the military may be asked to get involved in this, if it does start becoming

a more serious problem. >> are you going to tell people they cannot leave? how are we going to give it to 300 million americans? martha: what can you do right now? is there anything you tended to be prepared for this? >> nothing but tell your children to protect themselves. rick: washing your hands and cover your mouth. >> and avoiding other children who are sick. martha: i do not consider you an alarmist at all, but i can tell you are concerned about this. >> very concerned. rick: for parents that are concerned about tamiflu, the doctor says the benefits outweigh any risk. thank you very much. martha: the h1n1 virus.

we want to hear from you. are you worried that this will come back and it could be worse than ever? you can post your response on our blog, foxnews.com/livedesk. or you can follow us on twitter at twitter.com/livedesk. rick: bernie madoff speaking out from behind bars, telling a lawyer he was not surprised he was arrested. he said he was surprised he was not arrested sooner. we will tell you what else he had to say when we come back.

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rick: in the top box, the h1n1 flu hearing on capitol hill.

the military has officially requested permission to help out with the virus if they are needed. in the middle box, the five-star hotels hit by homicide bombers two weeks ago are back in business in indonesia. they both have tighter security. in bottom box, look at the smog. excessive heat warnings for most of the western washington state. it does not usually get too hot. they will break 100 degrees will later today. martha: new developments in the bernie madoff scam. the trusty who oversaw ththe cae is now suing ruth madoff bernie madoff has now started

to tell his story. in his first jailhouse interview, he told an attorney halley pulled it off to cities said he was shocked that he was not caught sooner. adam, you almost feel like bernie madoff is shaking his head and saying, you need to clean your own house. >> he basically says the sec is number one on the investigation and he is using his middle finger when he says number one. he met with an attorney out of san francisco. this is a civil attorney was very famous. his posturing a bit. he said that in 30 days, he will name names based on his interview with mr. madoff on how he was able to fool the sec and pull off a ponzi scheme. martha: all along i have wondered how these people at the sec have kept their jobs.

it is an oversight. it is an oversight.