[captioning made possible by fox news channel] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- jane: good morning, everyone. we begin withç breaking news fm atlanta on a helicopter that has crashed. harris: we are learning more about what happened. this is a civilian helicopter, and they were surveying cover lines in the area. we do not know why they were given that. there were two people on board who have been transported to an area hospital. you can clearly see in the video the damage that occurred when the helicopter crash. we do not know if they were

clipped by those power lines, or if there was any problems with the weather, but we know two people were hurt. non-life-threatening injuries. we do not have conditions on those two people, so we do not know what kind of injuries. of course, all of this a couple (vj after that helicoptr went down in the hudson river. so we have a great deal of sensitivity right now with this type of accident. back to you. jane: thank you. also, take a look at this video of a massive marine assault in afghanistan. they are facing resistance as they are rooting out the taliban. the taliban has put up such a fight, the military said that

they may have known this offense was coming. operation in eastern resolve has been launched just ahead of the presidential elections in afghanistan. we are in afghanistan reporting with greg palkot. >> we are holed upç in a small compound in the middle of the town of danahçhaneh. we have been witnessing firefight after a firefight between military and insurgents. we are also dealing with ied's and it is an over all busy

operation. this operation is aimed at clearing up the taliban in the area. the captain on the ground so far says that several taliban fighters have been killed. most of the fighting is happening in a village of about 2000. the feeling is the town does not like the taliban and does not like warfare on their street to ether. jane: thank you. çrick: back home now to madison county, iowa were a town hall -- where a town hall meeting is being held. çrepublican senator charles grassley holding this meeting. carl cameron is with us in iowa. this one started 45 minutes ago.

how is it going? >> fairly tame. there are a lot of people with concerns about health care, and they make the argument that this is not so much about health care, but a power takeover by the obama administration. there you can see senator grassley speaking. they brought this meeting outside because the library could not hold the capacity they were expecting. this is iowa, the midwestern homespun family values that they do here, even though it is every four years, it tends to beç moe symbol than most locations. senator grassley is the top republican on the finance committee and he says he will not support a government takeover of health care.

taxpayer funded abortions. and this is a fairly tame crowned with serious concerns, and they are being enunciated properly so far. rick: i understand there will be another one of these forums with senator grassley. that one could get interesting, why? >> it is closer to desmoines, one of the larger cities, and it will be after work. those people who ran those tea parties and around the country protesting taxation of american civilians, all of them are being ginned up to come tonight. organizers are expecting several thousand people.

they are angry grassley is the dissipating inç the discussion with democrats -- participating in the discussion with democrats. mr. grassley says that it is his duty to take part in (1%ì(lc@&c+ legislative process. he says in gives him an opportunity, potentially, to moderate some of the more liberal ideas the democrats are offering, and at the very least, to know what is going on. rick: thank you. we will bring you news from that event as it happens. jane: the dow is up her right now. the fed has been taking a look at interest rates. jenna, what are the expectations? >> we had declined of 1% yesterday across the board, and

now we are up. this is typical activity ahead of a fed meeting. they will be dealing with the overnight lending rate. higher the rate, normally the moreç expensive it is for us to borrow money. right now it is near zero, and it is not expected to be moved very much. what isç important to investors is what the fed has to say about the economy, recovery, and how they feel on the moving forward. right now the markets are up ahead of those announcements. jane: thank you. rick: another way the slumping economy is impacting other countries. the amount of money mexican immigrants sending back to their families in mexico will draw up for the first time, not only that, some immigrants here in

the u.s. are on the receiving end of family funds. steve centanni, quite a reversal. -- stevesteveç harrigan, quitea reversal. >> that is right. the numbers are down 20% and is turning some of these villages into ghost towns. here is one that we visited. ç♪ >> there are the old and young here in pacula, mexico. it is a steep hill for this 85- year-old. in past days his grandchildren used to send him several hundred

dollars a month working as construction workers in the u.s. now that they have lost their jobs, the money has dried up. >> this woman now simply coax to keep a roof over her and her children. there are about $25 billion -- there was aboutç $25 billion transferred to families here last year, but that number has been reduced dramatically, turning some of these small villages into ghost tow' >> these people are learning how to fend for themselves, but others are either too old or too weak to do so, and they are the ones having the toughest time. jane: we have more on this helicopter that has gone down

outside atlanta. harris: we are learning just how close of the call this was for this neighborhood. the helicopter went down within 100 yards of a neighborhood. the police department reporting that it made a hard landing and it was a miracle that it did not hit any homes. they needed to make a decision to avoid water and residential areas, but word is that the two occupants have been taken to the hospital. rick: health care town halls. the debate gets heated in pennsylvania whereç arlen specr got an earful yesterday. now we will talk to the man who

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is an owner of a job and in trouble. not only did she not stop a fight between two students, she set it up. çpolice say she actually took e of the boys out of class to fight the other in the hallway. she stood there watching until she noticed visitors to the campus were watching her. she has now been suspended. rick: after this round the town hall, arlen specter is back at it again today holding another forum on health care. more than 400 people showed up today.

the newly turned in democrat seems to be feeling the brunt of the heat them. joining me now is joe sestak, challenging him for the democratic primary. good to talk to you again. i know you are holding a town hall as well in center city philadelphia. what kind of questions are you prepared to enter today? >> those questions across the board, those people who feel that government should do everything, those who feel like they should do nothing. this is my second town hall sinceç leaving congress. people have a lot of anxiety. they are in the middle of a savage recession. how could they not? i am a public servant who opposed it to them -- who owesç it to them, to explain what the

issues are. this is an issue that i got into congress to fight for. rick: if you are a constituent -- a survey of your constituents and a majority of them tell you that they do not like this public plan, and that they do not want to see governments involved with health care, do you have an obligation to listen to what they are saying and vote against health care reform? >> absolutely, i need to listen to them. this is my 8th health care reform. i had some where we discussed single payer, somewhere we discussed other ways to do it. but we are a representative democracy.

i need to listen, but principal matters more than politics. in motion, we should be held çaccountable, but we are also asked to lead america to the overall good. right now,ç our plan only gets better in terms of making health care less affordable. that is an argument that we have not made well enough. rick: one argument from people who do not like the democratic versions is tort reform. that really drives up the cost of health care. would you be willing to sit down with your colleagues and include tort reform as part of your

debate? >> great question, rick. the studies have shown the following -- the increase in medical costs expected can be attributed to lawsuits. between 1% and 4%. it is also true that three out of every five cases brought forward are fraudulent. another study has shown that one out of 10 cases that could be brought forward and are true, it turned out to be filed. it is unlikely that a 6-year-old boyç becomes a paraplegic -- which has occurred -- and those medical bills are about $8,000 a year. rick: congressmeçan, we are all

sympathetic, but are you in favor of tort reform? >> if it is a cap, then no, i am not. everyone needs their day in court. rick: understood. you will be holding a town hall today in philadelphia. we look forward to seeing the highlights of your discussion. jane: take a look at the biggest jewel heist in german history. thieves made off with more than $65 million in precious gems. we are getting breaking news on this. ♪ well i was shopping for a new car, ♪

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in jane: breaking news -- jane: breaking news from atlanta. a young man suspected of terroristç activities has been found guilty. he was accused of making and sending american landmarksç -- videos of american landmarks and sending them to terrorists. rick: in germany, thieves making and get away with over $50 million in gems. scotland yard says two robbers dragon employee before firing a shot and taking off. we are now learning that police had made an arrest in the case. we are with sky news with the latest. what do we know? >> a 50-year-old man had been

arrested in connection with this audacious robbery, stealing more than $60 million worth of jewelry. you can see the two thieves broke outç of the shop after ts raid, on the way, ground one of the employees, fired one shot to ward off people who were trying to stop them, and then made baggataway. this shows just how professional and organized these men were. they fledç in a bmw and they ae almost, when that car crashes into a nearby taxicab. then may abandon that tax to cover, and then they were pursued by members of the public. they fired off one shot to scare them away, and it seems that a

package may have been handed off to a motorcyclist. two men in the meantime dump into a silver mercedes and drove another half mile, and then jumped into another vehicle, and then police believe the pair split up after that. the police do not know where they are right now. there are watching all of the major port in the country to prevent those men and from leaving and to prevent those jewels from being distributed around the world. rick:ç did police describe how they found this bandit? >> they have had a large response from the public and said that they are following a number of positive leads. this manç is already being questioned and has been released on police bail, but he was not one of the two men who carried out this audacious raid.

rick: thank you. jane: we want to hear what is happening today. if you do not like twitter, and do not pay attention to the news today. >> the royal opera house in london want to make up for a cool again with the help of twittered. they are trying to create the first online offer of stories. twitter users write the story line by line and then a director and composer will compose a story to a and then these mini operas will be performed later in the year. speaking of,ç in case your eyes are too tired to read only 140 characters or less, you can now listen to your tweets on your

iphone. twunerç will read your tweets t loud. they are also getting involved in this week's meteor shower. there are encouraging users to send in their pictures of the meteor shower. on foxnews.com, we have some tips for you t. astronomers are predicting up to 200 meters per hour. -- meteors perhour. rick: thank you. it seems like we talkç about these somali pirates every day

for a while, but we have not in a while. now we have brand new video of pirates @ïu combination of seven tantalizing flavors your cat craves. friskies signature blend. feed the senses.

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nuclear weapons facility. kids do not want to hearç this but it is back-to-school shopping time. are the parents spending big bucks on getting back to school? and you do not have quality health insurance, but do you haveç something border -- to barter or trade? a new trend and how you can get in on it. jane: you may have seen protesters at the president's town hall. a lot of these over the tough times. you have seen pictures of them. but this coverage is in stark contrast if you look at what happened in the bush administration, particularly, these pictures from 2002. a lot of people in the crowd chanting that the president is a terrorist. at least one protester calling for his assassination.

what was coverage like then, compared to now? with me now is our washington managing editor. çbill sammon, your thoughts? >> i was actually at the protest i'h2002 and it was amazingly ugly. there were people holding placards with the president's face, doctored to have a gun pressed up against his temple. and there were other one that burberry vulgar -- were very vulgar, which i cannot repeat here on family television. this happened to be the same hotel where an association of

gay athletes was holding its softball world series. they came back and try to get back into theç hotel at the sae time coincidentally. one person was surrounded by the protesters. can you imagine ifç this happed at an anti-obama demonstration? i think we would hear about it. jane: why the difference? >> bias, pure and simple. the reason these protesters have been singled out at the obama rally is because the press is trying to take the fringe element and elevate them to a bigger position than they really occupied, and then try to tar the reputation of the opposition. in reality, there are a lot of

the middle of the road conservatives who have concerns about this health care plan and the press does not focus on them. jane: if you look at the polls, someone said it yesterday, the administration must be seeing thisç and it may cause some concern. is this resonating at the white house? >> i thinkç the reason the pres and white house is focusing on these fringe protests is too politically fight back against the fact that the air is going up of the balloon in terms of support for the health care plan. by taking the counter offensive and demonizing the fringe elements of the demonstrations, the white house hopes to regain

the initiative and get some momentum so that they can pass this thing. i agree they should be worried about people sitting at home because again, support is falling, according to the polls. the press is focusing on these people as to discredit the opposition, which actually has some legitimate -- legitimate elements to it. jane: thank you. rick: now to the breaking news desk. we promised you a video of pirates being captured. harris: we have just a few secondsç of this video. this is near the coast of somalia. nato forces taking over a suspected captured pilot boat. --ç pirate boat. that boat was getting ready to

hijack a nearby somalia the song. -- vessel. pirates have been taking over this water area. that was turkey commandos firing and taking over the pirates boat. rick: cool stuff. the dow is doing pretty good after a rough weestart. have you started to go shopping for your kids? it looks like they won't. jenna lee is reporting from the fox business network. i guess it is the economy? >>ç have you gone back-to-schol shopping that? rick: not yet.

>> that you are in the majority. 60% of families had not begun. when i was looking at is what items willç be costing you more this year. we put together this index where one company filled up the backpacks of students of different ages. how much does it take to get kids ready for school? if you read to musical instruments, the cost of that has gone up. also, if you play sports, the fee to play has gone up. and she's in general have gone up, from the field trips -- fees in general have gone up, from field trips to special events. if you have a middle school

students, don't worry because prices have not jumped up that much. elementary students, that is one of the larger increases, thanks to those musical instruments. high-school students have to do with something differentç like college preparation. rick: everything costs a lot of money. thank you. jane: fresh concerns about pakistan and its nuclear arsenal. could they be falling into the wrong hands? çand more than one dozen horses found slaughtered in their stalls. who is doing this, and why? police are asking for your help. how does jell-o sugar free pudding fit all that rich,

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rick: growing concern over nuclear security in pakistan. quayside in the country have been attacked at least three

times in the last two years. one of the attacks carried out by the taliban, raising fears that nuclear weapons could end up in the hands of terrorists. with me now is a former deputy of security at the national nuclear organization. i did a search for the phrase, are pakistan's nuclear-weapons say? it produced dozens of articles back to 2001, 2003. çthis is a concern of people, d has been for a long time. >> there were those three attacks that you noted, and another oneç on military personnel which occurred earlier this year. the good news is there have been many advancements made in security. there has also been a push back on the taliban as the pakistani

army is trying to deny them the inroads they provided them previously. rick, i think many have doubts about the pakistan army to defend their nuclear sites. every time they are asked they say they can, or securing these facilities, but yet, these attacks take place, so should we trust them? >> they can secure those sites where the nuclear weapons are, but there are other areas where they manufacture some of the materials, as well as transportation of the materials, so it is a pretty big job. my sense is they are doing well, but there will be some vulnerability is, as we sell with some of these attacks. rick: we just showed where these attacks have taken place. as you say, many of them are

close to areas that are controlled, for all intents and purposes, by the taliban. çwhat happens in a worst-case scenario if the taliban but their hand on the weapons? is a scenario that is very difficult to contemplate. first of all, we hope that the pakistan army would be able to deprive them of the territorial gains, and if a facility is under attack, there would be a surge of pakistani forces to repel the attack. of course, if these weapons fall into the hands of terrorists, then we are in a difficult position where they have many options, and we have very few. rick: diplomatically speaking, it seems to be a pretty tricky and delicate situation when it comes to the u.s. and pakistan.

president bush, and now president obama, have gone on of their way to talk about their sovereignty, to boost their reputation, but is there anything that we can or should be doing to help pakistan in these efforts because the consequences are potentially dire? did i lose you? did you hear my last question? çwe had a technical problem. he is joining us from the monterey center for nonproliferation studies. jane: we want to warnç you this next story is disturbing. in miami county, at least 18 horses have been killed on a property they have been living. this has been going on since january. orlando salinas, do they know why this is happening? >> yes, the bottom line is about

money. in some parts of self florida, 1 pound of horse meat is selling for about $40, and that is a lot of money. the people doing this are well organized and they move very fast. the scalp pastors for a long time and they know exactly when these forces are being left alone. since early january 18 horses have been slaughtered in their stalls or pastors. horse owners are a different group of people. they say that they are part of their family and will protect their own. >> i have the right to defend myself. >> when do you mean by that? if yu)see a bad guy, not your property -- >> i am going to shoot him. there is no ifs, ands, or about. >> this is where they dismembered him and took his

hind and meat. >>ç investigators are moving fast. >> this product is extremely popular in our community. there is a big demand. >> the images are hard to look at, but officials say the brutality needs to be seen. >> we are dealing with cases occurring in rural areas, so there are not a lot of individuals around. it is not impossible, but it is more difficult to develop my witness lead. >> police are not willing to talk about specifics, and they say they have made progress, but until they catch someone, many of these horse owners are carrying guns.

jane, thank you. rick: but we come back, health care and its costs. everyone is worried about it. what if we told you that you could get quality care without paying for it?

rick: a man in texas says he owes his life to his grandson. robert prudhoe from working in their yard of his grandson contemn company. somehow he accidentally ran into a stake impaled himself. his grandson ran into the house, called 911, and then found his mother nearby to tell her that

this was an emergency and labor on the telephone. -- and they were on the telephone. rick: paramedics say that if they had not gotten there as quickly, he would have bled to death. jane: have you ever sprain your ankle and did not have health care? maybe you can strike a deal with your doctor. there is a website out there that helps companies trade services without cash. the ceo of that website is with i was reading some interesting stuff. you have an eye doctor that is training to have this office building painted. what else is happening? >> we are discussing the health carehaspect of it today, but it

is small business owners utilizing the digital world end of the arteries system -- and using the bartering system. jane: how much have you seen the interest in this idea grow? >> over last year, business registration is up about 45%. the health care aspect is up to maybe 4% year over year, but that totals more than $1 million in care every month. jane: i understand you broke your shin and ankle and bartered for your care? >> yes, i was at mount hood, and

i i did not to pay for -- i opted not to pay for that insurance coverage. thing goodness we had people in theç organization that were abe to perform surgery on me. now i am healthy again. that would have been a huge burden for me without the help of this barter system. çjane: i want to put up some ideas of what you could trade. first, you need to check the quality of your service and then comparison shop. how do you do that? >> in any community you have the peer pressure of many participants. a barter system almost takes care of itself. if a doctor was to get complaints, that he is not going

to last in our community very long because it is a smaller community. people come in every month. jane: the third one, clarifying your agreement, is obvious. this need to be reported as income? >> through organized exchanges every year we report the aggregate amount of sales in a 1099. and that professionalizes bordering health care for services. jane: thank you. rick: interesting story. i will paint your house. i do not know what it will look like -- çjane: was in check-in qualityf service the first one? rick: we will talk about the

link between obesity and the h1n1 virus. some say being severely overweight could increase your risks. jane:ç and daring efforts to rescue hundreds of people from these typhoons. mudslides have wiped out hundred. it's what doct most for headaches. for arthritis pain... in your hands... knees... and back. for little bodies with fevers..

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for me to keep my bones strong but even with calcium, vitamin d, and exercise, i still got osteoporosis. i never thought i could do more than stop my bone loss. then my doctor told me i could, with once-monthly boniva. boniva works with your body to help stop and reverse bone loss. studies show, after one year on boniva, nine out of ten women stopped and reversed their bone loss. i know i did. (announcer) don't take boniva if you have low blood calcium, severe kidney disease or can't sit or stand for at least one hour. follow dosing instructions carefully. stop taking boniva and tell your doctor if you have difficult or painful swallowing, chest pain or severe or continuing heartburn, as these may be signs of serious upper digestive problems. if jaw problems or severe bone,

joint, and/or muscle pain develop, tell your doctor. i've got this one body, and this one life, so i wanted to stop my bone loss. but i did more. i reversed it with boniva. ask your doctor if boniva can help you stop losing, and start reversing. (announcer) for a free trial offer, call 1-800-4-boniva. rick: we begin with a fox news alert. [captioning made possible by fox news channel] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- the white house is expected to speak on health care at a press conference coming up. the press conference is scheduled to begin at around 12:30. today's town halls, on the heels of president obama who hosted one yesterday in new hampshire. the presidents gathering was tame compared to other that we have been watching.

now the white house is getting some push back on this statement the president made. >> we have a party on board because they know this is a good deal for seniors. rick: but there is a hitch. good afternoon, everyone. today in aarp is speaking out. jane, they hadç not endorsed ay health care plan yet. what is the white house saying over this situation? >>ç it has been an interesting exchange. aarp put out a statement saying while the president was --

i spoke to the white house a few moments ago and an aide said that aarp had not signed on for health care reform but support from the health insurance reform, and they consider aarp a huge contributor to the efforts. jane: talk about the feedback you are hearing about this town hall anevent with president obama. do they feel like it was effective? >> senior aides say that he has done more of these than anyone, so they feel likeç he was ableo talk about the upper hand over health care. he was also able to convince people that this needs to get done. çjane: i know he will have a couple more meetings later this week. yesterday's was pretty tame.

today expect things to get more heated? >> they say the areas that he will be speaking are not exactly liberal hubs, so he may see a feistier reaction. some people believe that it is simply the office of the president that is the reason for the difference. jane: not to afghanistan. seven militants have been killed in a major assault. it is aimed at disrupting a terror stronghold, the heart of taliban territory. about 500 marines and afghan soldiers have been pushing through helmand province. it is a place that is over more -- remote, it has never seen coalition forces. çit is a key battle ahead of

elections we are expecting in the presidential race next week. why are these operations so important to the elections? >> the afghan presidential election is eight days away but there is growing fear that the increase in violence could disrupt the elections. the purpose of today's operation is to clear up these areas so that afghans can vote. there is fear among some other communities here that the election will not be legitimate, so the more afghans boat, the better chances the government will be seen as legitimate, and in the future, the stronger to take on the taliban. jane: what type of resistance are these marines landing? >> in some parts of the

operation they are facing stiff resistance. in other parts, it is lighter. no casualties have been reported killed, and so far range are pretty happy with the way that things are going. jane: thank you. çrick: 57 troops in iraq have confirmed cases of h1n1, according to the iraqi health ministry. not immediately confirm the numbers but they say 51 soldiers have already been diagnosed. another 71 cases were put into isolation. officials say all the troops have been treated. 23 iraqis have been diagnosed with the pilot -- virus, and six foreigners are showing symptoms. jane: workers in taiwan have rescue nearly 1000 people stranded in three different mountain villages.

hundreds of people may still be buried in the mud slides. 80 inches of rain, high winds or wipe out, turning these rivers into a torrent of mud. the typhoon also hit japan, china, the philippines, destroying nearly tend thousand homes and flooding more than 1 million acres. rick:ç a story from brazil whee a high popular host of a television crime show is under arrest for plotting at least five murders in order to boost his ratings. william souza,ç a former politician and a police officer, ordered the murder of rival drug traffickers. officials believe he and his son were running drugs in the country as well. they ordered the murder that and said camera crews on the scene to get exclusive footage for

their reality show. jane: new information about a man found guilty of aiding terrorists. harris: a jury looked at in this picture. it is him in front of the u.s. capitol. prosecutors say that he took a series of pictures of some of our main landmarks in the u.s. he said these pictures to suspected terrorists around the world. they say he also went to bangladesh to pursue the hon. he represented himself in court and said that they were just empty words. he did not mean them. his friend who also took the pictures was found guilty of the same thing in june. he faces 60 years in prison now.

çhe is going to face 60 years n prison as the jury found him guilty on four counts. rick: when we come back, a new report warning about a growing trend of anti-government militias that on expressing their views with violence. çjane, and police have a suspet in custody in in her with a kiowa shooting. two people gunned down in a toll plaza.

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accu-chek® aviva. born in the u.s.a. rick: they have been quiet for more than a decade but extreme government anti -- anti- government militias are on the move. these groups are accused of using violence and then the displays of support like the

oklahoma city bombing. the attacks often chilled by rumors, conspiracy theories, and hate speech. caroline shively is in washington with more. >> these anti-government groups are gaining ground in the midwest, pacific northwest, and deep south. they point to several reasons, a tough economy, liberal president, and even the fact that we have an african-american president. one man seen in this picture is holding a semi-automatic weapon and says it is a wake-up call. another group has posted an opening for field sniper. çthe report has a list of recet hate crimes like the holocaust museum shooting allegedly by a way to protest and the murder of an immigration activists, and the fatal shooting of a late term abortion doctor in kansas. çthe report mentions certain

groups and even met perry entertaining the idea of session. rick: thank you. so what is behind the rise in the militia movement? what separates these movements from legitimate government opposition and the right to free speech? joining me now is the director of the southern poverty law center who conducted that study that we just talked about. specifically, where did you get proof, aside from some pro and incidents, this is a growing trend? >> we have not only reports, but all kind of evidence of these groups training in the woods, as they did in the 1990's. there is a huge number of groups

that have essentially come back to life. atç least 50 groups have formed as well, and there is probably more. rick: what do you think these findings mean? >>ç i think this is a convergee of that bunch driving these groups. as you mentioned in the intro, the election of obama's presidency, the diminishing majority of whites in the country, the state of the economy, and the fact that we have a black man as president all have contributed to a fairly sizable amount of people feeling that somehow the country that their christian right for fathers had built has been taken from them. rick: i apologize for cutting you off. reorganization is not the only one to point out this to those that rise in the number of groups you are referring to, but

to a lot of people, it sounds like an attempt to undercut the views and voices of a lot of people around the country who have legitimate concerns about the size of our government and policy being put out there. is that what your report is trying to do? >> no, thereç is a difference between, as you say, perfectly reasonable criticism of the government, which every citizen of a democracyç is allowed, and the floating of fantastic conspiracy theories that in many cases helped drive people to violence. the idea that fema is running secret concentration camps to imprison america. president obama is secretly planning reeducation camps for our children. those ideas force people to feel

like they have to defend their liberties with a gun. rick, when you watch these town halls, these debates taking place where people are very angry and upset about the proposal being made about health çcare, they confront their politicians. when you look at the crown and the people voicing their concerns, do you see timothy mcveigh'sç in waiting? >> no, not at all, but some of the ideas of the militia movement are expressed by those same people. there was a man in new hampshire who said something to the fact that we should send illegal aliens back to mexico with a bullet in their brain. he went on to talk about watering the tree of liberty, a paraphrase of thomas jefferson,

needing to be watered with the blood of patriots every 10 years. while i cannot say that he had anything to do with the militia movement, that is very much the idea of the movement. there was a lot of quoting of thomas jefferson, and in fact, timothy mcveigh used the exact phrase. rick: one more question. i wonder what you say to your critics who say thatç you are crying wolf with this report, and that you are the professional fear monger. those are some of the charges that i found against you. what do you say to those people? >>ç that is hogwash. people will have to look around and decide whether what we are saying makes sense. one thing i would point out is there are a great number of law enforcement agencies both federal, state, and local -- all

three -- who are reporting very similar activities. we quoted a high-ranking law enforcement official in the report who talks about the idea that in 10 years we have never seen this amount of activity, and it seems to be rising from a spark. i think that is a sober and accurate assessment of what is going on right now. rick: thank you for joining us. jane: police in california have arrested a suspect inç a bizare double murder. that daniel burton -- nathanieéç burton killed one woman and one man. the woman in the case and the suspect shared a house, and neighbors say they were having financial problems.

two men rushed to the hospital after their helicopter makes a crash landing. -- after their airplane makes a crash landing. both men were airlifted to the hospital. we are told both were conscious. police were only able to find the wreckage after other pilots read their emergency beacon. rick: and more news on the swine flu. çwhat experts are calling a connection between obesity and this one flu. ç-- and swine flu.

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your power chair will be paid in full. the scooter store. hi i'm dan weston. we're experts at getting you the scooter or power chair you need. in fact, if we pre-qualify you for medicare reimbursement and medicare denies your claim, we'll give you your new power chair or scooter free. i didn't pay a penny out of pocket for my power chair. with help from the scooter store, medicare and my insurance covered it all. call the scooter store for free information today. call the number on your screen for free information. rick: we are a few minutes away from the daily white house briefing with robert gibbs. we are expecting him to talk

about health care, get questions from reporters. we are monitoring that and we will take you to washington if we hear anything interesting. jane: more news about the h1n1 virus. a new study says there may be a link between this byers and obesity. carina sonn is at the university of michigan for us. -- this virusç and obesity. >> doctors called their findings startling. they looked at 10 different çpatients and all had serious lung problems related to h1n1. nine out of those 10 were either obese war morbidly obese. many had come here to the are complaining that they could not agree that at all. three of those died from complications of pneumonia and organ failure.

jane: does this mean that the obese or more likely to contract the virus? >> doctors are not saying that they say being obese may be a high risk factor. in essence, if you are obese and you happen to get h1n1, you could be looking at serious upper respiratory complications that could be deadly. 3 +%-pfor around the world and to patients who are obese. jane: when is theç advice of doctors are giving? >> as with many illnesses and infection, the help they will help. doctors say if you have extra weight, try to shed those extra pounds. they also may advise the cdc to place the obese population

higher up the hierarchy when the vaccine is released. doctors are now prescribing anti-viral medication including tamiflu to any of these patients showing signs that they may have some serious h1n1 pneumonia. jane: thank you. rick: thousands of college students heading back to classç fall with a serious dilemma, how to pay for tuition. a report says at least a dozen rdates are slashing financial aid programs, and in some states, eliminating grants all together. it comes at a very tough time. the man for state aid is up 20% from last year. -- demand for state aid is up 20% from last year. jane: today president obama

awards four recipients of the presidential medal of honor. the white house says all of the honorees are distinguished agents of change. rick: in number of town hall meetings are underway around the country. >>ç no national! rick: just an example of some of the things we have heard. we are also watching at the white houseç -- rather, some stories we are reporting on, like health care. for more, you can go to our live shots page on foxnews.com. that is where our producers and reporters are sending some of

their latest material. as i said, the white house press briefing is set to begin moments from now. ( crack of bat, cheering ) not playing with the kids? not on these legs. poor leg circulation. doctor says it's p.a.d. peripheral artery disease? hmmm. more than doubles your risk for a heart attack or stroke. so i hear. better ask your doctor about plavix. plavix can help protect you from a heart attack or stroke. plavix helps keep blood platelets from sticking together and forming clots, the cause of most heart attacks and strokes. my cousin the m.d. call your doctor about plavix.

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if it fits, it ships for a low flat rate. ok, but i ship all over the country. you can ship anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. ship international, too. yes, but i ship hundreds of things, in all sizes. great, because flat rate boxes come in four sizes. call and we'll send a free supply, plus up to $160 in offers. when you're ready to ship, we'll even pick them up for free, no matter how many you have. priority mail flat rate boxes only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. call or go online now to get started. rick: we are back, a few minutes away from the daily white house briefing. or did expected to enter some questions from -- robert gibbs expected to answer some questions from the reporters,

including our own major garrett. we expect to hear about aarp and how they are not fully endorsing the health care plan. jane: is major garrett ready? i imagine aarp will be a hot topic. >> here is theç interesting par. aarp can't endorse any plan yet because there is no plan yet. there is a house bill and a formulating senate bill, but the whiteç house has not systematically released any package of reforms. that is part of the problem. when you look at democrats and declining numbers, and the president, they say that the white house does not have a compelling message because they do not have that legislation to sell.

some are encouraged on the house and said to push things through, but there is nothing really to sell to the public. while the aarp is in support, that is partially true, but is it a full endorsement? no, and the president may need to backtrack on that. also, a georgia senator responsible for language overt counseling. they said that itç was a grotesque distortion over his opposition to the house bill. now the white house may have to do some backtracking on that as well. jane: what are they telling you approaching this whole thing, putting it in the hands of congress? we're not talking about one plan at this point, and that makes it hard to sell. >> the white house has said that this is the anti-clinton approach.

the clintons would have a huge legislative product put together and then send it to congress. congress was not invested in that process, and it failed. now we are going to allow congress to write the legislation to make them believe that they are in a leadership role. the white house believes that would create smoother sailing. as it turned out, it has not. jane: thank you. these town halls taking place in congressional districts across the country. the dog days of summer meansìts members are getting dogged by their own constituents. we are in hagerstown, maryland where yetç another town hall meeting is set to begin. ben cardin is the host. what is the crowd like?

>> that is right, senator gordon will be holding another meeting here at hagerstown community college. they are beginning to let people inside, and when they reached the limit of 450, they will have to force everyone else to wait outside. it has been pretty peaceful. there are people here that are for and against, but it had been a very simple. most people arrived starting two hours ago but there were a couple of people who were in line very early this morning i spoke to two women at the front of the line. >>ç for those who share my fai, to encourage them to take seriously the idea that we need to love neighbors as ourselves. that meansç is not ok for us to have health care, access to

health care, and let the rest of the country than for themselves. >> we are not astroturf people. i never knew what that meant until nancy pelosi brought it up. we are the real deal. we are citizens being -- seeing our country being dismantled. >> maryland is a democratic state but hagerstown is a conservative pocket. earlier meetings had been pretty contentious and senator gordon's office expects things to get pretty heated today. jane: are there organized groups showing up, are they coming as individuals? >> most say that they are coming as individuals. there is a hagerstown tea party here, and they said they did not want to be seen as a month here, said they areç demonstrating along the highway overpass.

we hear there could be union organizers as well, but only a fewç members -- a few people he are organizeidentifying themsels union members. rick: we have seen a lot of heat at these town hall meetings with legitimate concerns, but are some of these outbursts doing more harm than good? and where does the debate go from here? we have a former clinton-or adviser. we also have a former speech writer for george w. bush. support for the democrats' health care plan is low, and is sinking every day. that means a lot of people who supported president obama while he was running for office are this, and he ran on health care reform. what is going on?

>> if you look at the polls, they actually go in both directions. re reform, do you think your cost will go up? the answer yes. yes. more problems with insurance? yes. and as you point out, they now have fears about health care doing exactly same thing. they are generally scared. i think the people we are seeing who are raising a ruckus is not because they are worried about health care, but generally a feeling of powerlessness. for the most part, these are republicans who have a feeling of power loss, the economy is struggling, the american dream is slipping away. that is why you hear people talking about the country falling apart piece by piece. these are not concerned about health care. i think these areç general sene

is of people feeling on rest. rick: you are a former speech writer. you know how hard it is for an administration to sell a message. what is the problemç with president obama, as you look at it from your side of the political spectrum? >> i think it is policy. the reality is, the more people learn about this plan, the less they like about it. a majority of the country is now oopposed to it, and they are angry. people think what they are proposing is socialism, and it is an american. they believe it will be changing the shape of our country, and they are speaking out. this is a popular uprising against a big government plan to take over health care and socialize it.

it is dangerous. rick: when the president spoke about this, he talked about fear mongering, lies that were being spread by the other side. didç the president silent any critics, change any minds? >> look, the republicans, and sarah palin in particular did the president a favorç by talkg about these deft panels. -- death panels. not only are they ridiculous on its face, but it harkens back to the type of intolerance that turned people off to sarah palin. in that regard, the president's opponents are doing him a favor, and he helped himself almost every time he speaks because he speaks in a matter of fact but a compelling way to people, using

everyday language. this website that the white house has put up to rebut these myths, for example. it is a place for people to see if these allegations ring true. rick:ç when we hear him talk about death panels, interest for abortion, for illegal aliens, do you think that people are getting the accurateç informatn that they need to know? >> the fact of the matter is, this plan is designed to get savings from medicare in order to fund health care. how you get savings from medicare? you deny coverage. you push older people into a hospice. you create a panel that centers on health outcomes, which is empowered to ration care in order to get savings from medicare. that will be elderly people.

these are real concerns and these are the problems when government is in charge of health care, instead of doctors and patients. people are worried about putting government bureaucrats in charge of their health care. rick:ç richard, last question. the president talked about the u.s. postal service, and the way that ups and fedex have done pretty well, as a way to support the public option. some people todayç say that its a terrible idea to make that comparison. how does the white house -- is it even possible for the president to get the momentum back in his favor? >> his point in the comparison was to say do not be afraid of a government entity. they have not forced out the

private sector in the delivery field. there is no reason to believe it will happen in health care. it is amazing in these meetings where they say, do not let the government get their hands on my medicare. medicare is a government plan. overhead is much, much less than a private insurance plan. this is something that the president needs to dial back a little bit, but also get out there and explain because when he does, he is compelling. rick: they are scheduling a couple more of these town hall meetings in theç next weeks. thank you both. jane: the white house press briefing has just come under way. we are monitoring it for you. he just got some announcements ã-uqzez the way, one of which, the president will be speaking at the vfw. that should occur on monday. he is expected to get a lot of

questions on health care. we will bring you any news that w. a typhoon in japan is causing hundreds of tests and mudslides. details after the break. please talk to your doctor about aspirin and your heart. i'm going to be grandma for a long time.

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jane: we continue to monitor the white house press briefing. of course, we will bring any news to you. these pictures we are showing you are from santa barbara county. firefighters fighting days wildfires which are 10% contains so far. 14 ranchers have been forced from their property. there is another fire near the oregon border. that one is 70% contained. how is the weather going to play into this? domenica davis has the answers. >> not much of this significant

change in the next few days. it is a pretty quiet weather çpattern, that he will stick around, and not much in terms of her reign. -- of rain. we also haveç some severe weatr in the southern plains. already seeing some signs of thunderstorms popping up through parts of the southeastern atlantic coast. a thunderstorm watch box now in effect from virginia beach to the carolinas. this stage into effect until 9:00 local time. expect in the late afternoon and early evening for those thunderstorms to become stronger. look at the temperatures, we have the worst team in the middle part of the country. that is also where we have the

chance for severe weather and the southern and northern plains. of course, we are still monitoring this tropical stormç -- this area of activity that could become a tropical storm. we are also looking at another system behind it that could turn into something. jane: thank you. i think we are going back to the white house briefing to listen to robert gibbs? he was asked if the president is losing control. >> let me put these up. i think there is a tremendous amount of disinformation helped their -- out there. let's be honest, you all, the media, tend to cover, ext. said

this, why said this, and some of you cannot always do the investigation over what was said was true. that is not a blanket statement. not everyone of you is that way. >> [inaudible] >> a lot of people have done stories about -- again, it is he çsaid, she said. there is no doubt that in some ways -- look, i am sure some of you were disappointed that the president did not get yelled out. i do not think there is any doubt about that. >> [inaudible] >> was the president disappointed not to get that confrontation? >> no, they had a rational discussion about health care reform legislation.

that is what ensued. did everyone agree? the answer is obviously know. i think what the president said which is important is, let's have a conversation where we talk to one another, not over one another. a lot of your stories and more to do with the fact -- the side shows on the outside rather than what was actually happening on the inside of the town hall. çgoing back to the campaign, we have always thought it more important to takeç disinformation that anyone may have about a proposal or something the president is trying to do and address directly that misinformation. i think that is the most important thing.

again, the notion that did we always expect this to happen? i do not think the president has ever done a town hall meeting where everyone agreed with what he said. i think the president believes the town hall meeting is a structure where people can discuss those issues in a way that they think, the way that he believes, it engenders a positive discussionç. i think that is what he got yesterday. >> that is one of the reasons he wanted this past before the august recess? >> he wants to get through the process of gettingç something o his desk. delay now simply means, as the president discussed yesterday, more people will be discriminated against based on pre-existing conditions, more people losing insurance because

they get sick. more people losing insurance because they're in juror -- their employer cannot afford it. that is the reason the president wants to see this done as quickly as possible. >> how are the members of the town hall meetings chosen? >> randomly. >> how about questions? >> the president asks them to randomly raise their hands. >> we saw that people were very polite with the president. they were, shall we say, < polite with other lawmakers. >> i do not known how many town hall meetings you have been due to the summerç -- in the summer -- >> not too many. >> you have only seenç clips pt

up about certain segments about certain town halls in order to demonstrate the consternation. i am just asking you to compare that to all of the town halls you have been to this summer. >> aside from that, the president did not get that kind of treatment. is that because people are more polite when speaking to the president? is there something in the way that people are allowed into your meetings? >> again, i am sending your disappointment that he was not yelled at. >> i am not disappointed, i just want an explanation. >> i do not want to speak to other meetings because i only go to the president's. it is hard for me -- i doubt we are seeing a representative sample of any town hall

meetings despite the food fight on cable tv. my sense is people wanted to take the opportunity to find out from the president,ç to have hm answer their questions about why he is doing and concern over legislation. that is why when he asked, let's take question directly from those who have concerns, at that point,ç do you want to take the opportunity to have the discretion with the united states about what he wants to see on health care reform? most people would take that opportunity as something positive. i think it was a good conversation. the president thought it was very constructive over the issues we are dealing with. the president went on of his

way, in fact, to bring up the misinformation up there, to address it. he understands he has a poll that -- pulpit that is large enough to deal with some of this misinformation that people would not normally inquire about because they read it somewhere and they just assumed it was true, even if it is not. >> what is the biggest obstacle to passing legislation? >> special interest, the people who want to keep status quo. the people who believe that somehow what we have is working for the millions of americans who are watching their health- care premiums skyrocket every day, who are watching small businesses lose coverage, who are part ofç the 12 main people in the past three years that have been told by insurance companies seeking to buy insurance that they are not eligible because of someone

deciding there was a pre- existing condition. this is the way it hasç been fr 40 years. there are people who have a vested and monetary interest in keeping things as they are. >> [inaudible] >> i do not think the president is any -- under any illusion that the ascendancy of his presidency would be the end of misinformation. i'm sure there are communications experts that would tell you, and the old thing that if you are explaining, you are losing. i think the president believes this provides an excellent opportunity to provide what his ideas and principles are, and more importantly, if he can debunk misinformation by telling people what is not in

legislation, he will take that opportunity. >> in addition to the town halls, the website, to knock down these myths, is the white house considering other venues to correct the record, if you will? çis there that need to do anything else? >> we have two town halls later in the week, one in montana, one in colorado. then the president will be back here for a bit forç some down time with his family. i do not think there are any specific venue announcements. i think the president believes the format of the town hall, in the ability to discuss directly with people their fears and concerns, has always been a

tremendously valuable. >> is there a concern that if this misinformation machine continues, and the record cannot be corrected, as it likes, would it be difficult to get health care reform across? >> if the debate is being dominated by something that is not true, of course. but i do not believe the president believes, when all is said and done, that most people will make their decision based on something that is false, and proven false. çtake a couple questions at a town hall meeting. çwe have seen enough video to know that people are concerned about the bill. take one of those concerns and

address it factually. >> so much attention now is being focused on debunking the myth, and you believe that will help you? >> yes, if people believe that somehow this is government- controlled health care -- which is now -- it is not -- and if the president can address that when he speaks, and people can get the truth, yes, that will help millions of americans. >> the?x(resident spoke yesterdy and really wanted to solicit some tough questions. we did not really find one. there was oneç