tv Happening Now FOX News October 12, 2010 11:00am-1:00pm EDT
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tomorrow. jon: fox news alert, nato now saying an explosion that destroyed a nato helicopter in afghanistan yesterday is the result of a terrorist attack. a rocket propelled grenade fired just after that chopper landed, the blast killed one, wounded eight. nato spokesman said, quote, the ch47 chinook helicopter just landed, it of off loading to the rear ramp when an insurgent rpg was fired into the cargo bay. we'll have more on this developing story as we get it. jen fox news alert, the white house moments ag ago commenting on a very big story we've been following for you that, reported national moratorium on home foreclosures, the white house is expressing opposition to that plan, warning there could be unintended consequences for the housing market. however, we should mention several banks have already issued a moratorium for their own customers. we'll have more on the foreclosure mess in a few
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minutes. another alert, press secretary robert gibbs saying the deepwater moratorium will be lifted within the week, he says, quote, very soon, however, that doesn't mean we're going to see deepwater drilling in the gulf. this moratorium has been an obstacles to an already battered economy, but it was put in place by bp to make sure everybody stays safe out there. we'll have more as that story develops. jon: a lot of news breaking this morning, good morning, i'm jon scott. jenna: hi everybody, i'm jenna lee, we're in the fox newsroom, "happening now", live to capitol hill, exactly three weeks before the crucial midterm elections, and the balance of power in congress is at stake. now today, brand new polls from the battle ground states, why the numbers are good news if you're a republican. jon: he is accused of plotting the bombings of the u.s. embassy necessary africa that killed more than 200 people, today, he's the very first gitmo detainee to
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face a civilian terror trial and the feds are going ahead with the case even without their star witness. we'll tell you why. jenna: social security benefits, not going up -- not going up for the second straight here. it's never happened before and it's a story we told you a little about yesterday. now, brand new outrage from the business world, a story that will blow your mind and the day's other big economic news. jon: nearly one year ago, the worst ever mass shooting at an american military base began, when it was all over 13 people were dead in that rampage at fort hood, many more were wounded and right now pretrial hears are underway, witnesses providing key evidence today against this man, army psychiatrist major nidal hasan. a judge will determine whether there's enough evidence to go forward with a trial. rick leventhal is live at fort hood, texas with more.
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what's happened in court so far this morning, rick? >> reporter: jon, there's been a lengthy delay, this article 32 hearing was supposed to start two hours ago and still hasn't. they're not telling us why. but we are told the delays are common in these hearings and also, that legal teams are meeting right now behind closed doors. i can tell you there are victims' family members both inside the courtroom and also in the overflow closed circuit hearing room behind me waiting for this article 32 hearing to begin, which is sort of a combination between a grand jury proceeding and a preliminary hearing where prosecutors present evidence and call witnesses, hoping to show probable cause that a trial, in this case a general court marshal, should be held. of course, all related to the events of last november 5th when a shooter identified as army major general nidal hasan allegedly climbed on to a table in an army readiness center and started shooting, killed 13 and wounded 30 others before two civilian
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police officers shot nidal hasan, who is the only suspect in this case. he was paralyzed from the waist down, jon, and we're told he's in the courthouse but the proceeding hasn't started yet. jon: we knee his defense attorney has promised a vigorous defense. what kind of defense are they going to be offering? >> reporter: well, it's interesting, because the military is trying to get him a psychiatric examination and the defense attorney, retired army colonel john gaugen has fought that, and we're hearing hasan does not want to plead insanity. it's not clear. if we learn more when and between gallagan starts cross-examining the witnesses, it could include all 32 surviving shooting victims, as well as first responders and probably the two officers who shot hasan. we also know that the attorney tried to have autopsy evidence repressed, that was denied, also close the hearing to the press and
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public. that was also denied, jon. jon: i know our viewers are interested in this case, get back to us when they get going with this. rick leventhal, thanks. jenna: today also marks another tragedy in our nation's history, the bombing of the u.s.s. coal happened exactly ten years ago today, al-qaeda terrorists attacked the navy destroyer during a routine refuelling stop in yemen. when it was all over, 17 sailors were killed and more than three dozen others were injured. the alleged mastermind behind this plot, bra him nashiri has been in u.s.dy for nearly eight years but has yet to stand trial and many of the men involved in the bomb having escaped or simply been released from prison from yemen. right now memorial services are underway at norfolk naval station, hundreds of navy officers and survivors, and they are gathering to remember the victims. we'll bring you there live as we get more. also today, we remember another terror attack, the
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bali bombings, happening exactly eight years ago today as well, more than 200 people killed in that blast that leveled a nightclub packed with tourists. it was the deadliest act of terrorism in the history of indonesia, a violent islamist group linked to that attack and three members of that group were convicted and sentenced to death. we have the u.s.s. cole, that anniversary, also this anniversary in bali, now to the first ever civilian terror trial for a gitmo detainee, the defendant accused of plotting along with osama bin laden to blow up two u.s. embassies in africa, this 1998 terror attack killed 224 people. opening statements in the trial could happen today, and the feds are going ahead without their star witness. why are they doing that? we're going to ask david lee mill their question, he's live outside the federal courthouse in new york city with more. so david, what do we know about this star witness and what exactly is the government doing this approach this case? >> reporter: that is the big question today, and there is some drama
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surrounding what the government is going to say in its opening arguments because they're not going to be able to use the testimony from a man that has been described as a star witness. that man, hussein abdibi, the judge has ruled in that case he is not going to be allowed to testify, the judge said last week his name only surfaced because the defendant, ahmed ghalani, mentioned his name during a course of testimony at a cia detention center overseas, and the judge said that his testimony is not going to be admissible. it waso what was he going to tell the court? presumably he was going to tell the court that he provided ghalani with a truck used in one of the attacks, as well as explosives. the government, though, has decided their not going to appeal the judge's decision, they are going to proceed with their case, they are going to move forward. they told the judge they believe they have a strong enough case to get a conviction here beyond a reasonable doubt. now, the defendant here,
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ghalani, has said when it comes to the tnt that he allegedly obtained, that he thought he was actually getting soap to wash horses. what the prosecution will likely say when this trial gets underway, jenna, is that they found in his home clothing that had residue of tnt on it, so that will help counter the argument from the defense. also they found in his home, it is likely the prosecution is going to say when it trial gets underway, detonators that were used in the blast in tanzania. so it looks like the trial is going to get underway in the next few hours, but right now, jury selection here is still underway. jenna. jebo jenna: more than a decade in the making just to get to this point. david lee miller, we'll be following it closely. thank you so much. jon: election is now three
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weeks away and that means we could see a seismic shift in the balance of power on capitol hill. here's the current situation in the house. democrats hold 256 seats, compared to 179 for republicans. in the senate, democrats and the two independents who caucused with them hold a significant edge over republicans, 59-41. but that could turn on several key battle ground races. steve centanni, live in washington for us now, with a brand new fox news poll from those states. so which races, steve, are giving republicans the most hope for regaining the senate? >> reporter: in the senate, republicans are holding slim leads in two states where senate seats are currently held by, that's nevada and washington, and the republican is gaining ground in connecticut. so there is increased hope this morning for republicans looking to take over the senate. let's look first at nevada, where a single majority leader harry reid is fighting to hang on to his seat against republican rival sharron apgle, the new
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fox poll shows angle has a two-point lead over reid, she's been ahead consistent ly since september 18th but not by more than the three-point margin of error for this poll. in washington state the two candidates, patty murray and dino rossi are neck and neck, rossi has a one point lead at this point. in connecticut, democrat dick blumenthal stays out front with 49 percent to sharon mcmahon's 43 percent but she's seen his lead erode and she's gaining ground. jon: what about delaware? christine o'donnell has made headlines across the country. is she making head way? >> not much at this point. as you know she's a controversial candidate, tpepding off her one-time mention of being involved in witchcraft, she's frustrated republican hopes by knocking the popular mike castle out of the primary race. now in the latest poll her opponent leads by 16 points over o'donnell. her numbers are essentially
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unchanged since the very first poll after her primary victory, jon. jon: are the voters' opinions of president obama playing a big race in these races? >> reporter: actually, they are. he and his polices seem to be a big factor. in the five senate battle ground states we're looking at, his disapproval rating is higher than the approval in every state but delaware. now, when asked how people would vote if the presidential election were held today, 36 percent said they would vote for obama, but 54 percent said they would vote for an unnamed republican. so not a good year for democrats, possibly. jon: steve centanni, keeping an eye on those numbers for us in washington, thanks. so we heard your voice in our latest polls. now we want to hear from you. it's our town hall series, america is asking. accepted us your election questions. we have a great panel of guests lined up. plus our own harris faulkner to help respond to what's on your mind. we'll have that panel on the
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air, answering your questions in the next hour. get them in. we'll put some of them on the air for you. jenna: we feel more popular when we get more e-mails. we're a little self-indulgent. one of the stories is the economy, unemployment high, lots of folks on main street tightening their belts but it's a different story on wall street where they're getting ready to hand out record setting bonuses. how is this possible just two years after we the taxpayer paid for billion dollars bailouts? we're live with that story. and thunderstorms, hail, lightning, is the wild weather over? we're live in the fox weather center, minutes from now.
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jon: "hawing now", in india, a boat overloaded with farm workers, 36 people are now dead. in hungary, progress in the evident to prevent that toxic sludge spill from spreading. construction crews nearly finished with a construction dam to hold back most of the industrial waste. >> in chile, freedom, just hours away for the 33 trapped miners there. the finance minister of that country says it will be late today when the first minor emerges. lots of controversy, though, over the order of who comes out. a live report on that, next hour. jenna: let me set this up for you, doesn't need much setting up, but you know how it is in this economy, you have the foreclosure mess, bank bailouts, high unemployment and one of the largest financial contri sees in our history, then you hear the banks that got billions of dollars in taxpayer money, handed out
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record bonuses, remember the outrage about that? guess what, this year those record bonuses are back again. ashley webster is here with more on this. $144 billion in bonus? >> we're in the wrong business aren't we? they are cranking out the bucks. $144 billion is what the "wall street journal" concluded. that would be a 4 percent hike over the bonuses last year, the second record year in a row and look, the banks and hedge funds and financial companies were making the revenue and these employees lived up to their expectations so we're paying them a bonus. the big issue is those banks that received the bailouts have paid back the money so they're kind of free, if you like, to pay their employees what they like. the issue is how are they paid, are they given cash or as critics would say, pay them in stock. jenna: what would that do? >> that would introduce riskier behavior. you can do a deal that's not in the best interest of the shareholder but there's a tax reward, you're likely to
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do that, but if you're deals on top of the stuff you're earning, it's a more risky deal. jenna: more tied to the company, not just the individual. it's interesting because this week we've had a story about social security, more than 60 million americans are not going to see an increase in social security, because inflation is not going up. that's the tkpwaeupbl for that. then you get the record bonuses for the wall street guys and see these two stories next to each other and try to make sense of them and it's hard. >> i saw a line where the big fat cat bankers are making billions and seniors may be forced to eat cat food and it's horrible but it's true, because when your social security money isn't going far, utilities bills are going up, your money isn't changing, you're earning less and two-thirds of americans rely on social security, but it will be an election issue. remember that, midterm election, seniors are loyal voters and they don't forget. it will have an impact. jenna: good context, ashley, thank you very much. jon, over to you. jon: jury deliberations in
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the anna nicole smith trial set to begin and the fate of the late model's boyfriend and her doctors hang in the balance. when you think of political radicals, you northerly think of the far left or far right but what if we told you they're in the middle? middle of the road radicals. next next -- that's next.
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stern, anna nicole smith's ex-boyfriend and an attorney is facing nine felonious counts having to do with providing prescription drugs to an addict. sandeep kapoor and khristine eroshevich face six felonious counts -- i should say they don't face anything causing her death but giving her drugs. that is not a slam dunk. this goes for deliberations to the jury. two things stand out in this case. one, the defense is saying if it were not for anna nicole's celebrity, this case would not have gone forward and then the prosecution is questioning this, a second set of medical records kept by one of the doctors, and the big question is would knows two sets of medical records, one privately in a home, the second set found in the office for the public to see, was that happen to go
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cover something up. so you've got the two sides going together, not a slam dunk, because the judge has even said, you know, while there are many holes in this case, those are two strong arguments, that's why he's agreed to let this go to the jury. in los angeles a courtroom with the name anna nicole, spill from -- spilling from peoples' lips after her drug overdose back in 2007, back in the headlines, one of the most photographed women in the world, this is going forward. i'll let you know. we're less than ten minutes for the jury to start deliberating. it won't be immediate, we're told, because this is not a slam dunk for either side. back to you. jon: harris faulkner, keep an eye on it, thanks. >> sure. jenna: there's been a lot of talk about the radicals on the left and the radicals on the right and their impact on election, but the voting group with the most power potentially is the middle of the political spectrum. we usually call them independents, until today. how about we call them radicals in the middle? that's what "wall street
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journal" executive jerry sieb is calling them and he's our guest now. jerry, you just wrote a great piece a little middle of the road radicals, describing them as a band of nomads. roving nomads moving across the political landscape. this is a really important block of voters. in 2006 they moved to the democrats, which is why they took control of the house, in 2008, lots of them jumped on the barack obama band bandwagon, this year they're moving to republicans and there's obvious attention to the tea party. this is a cor group, these people are equally important and they're up for grabs and republicans have grabbed a lot of them this year and that's the big story. jenna: what's changed about that? two years ago we would call them independents, two years ago they were going more for the democrats. what's come up with this group of people that's changeed? >> they're rootless, they don't believe in either party by definition, that's why they're independents but they're also tpras trait dollars. you can see the economic frustration of this group in
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particular and they're acting on it. they don't think republicans stopped spending in the bush era but they don't think democrats have solved the problem and created jobs. ed rolleins is a republican strategist, used to be chief political strategist to ronald reagan, saying they're the reagan democrats coming back to the republican party and there's truth to that. jenna: and there's truth to that and some would disagree with that. it's interesting to talk about the broader points about what it actually means, what it says about our government, and our country right now, that most people do not identify with the political party and most people are angry or frustrated with what's going on. what does that really say about where we're at? >> you're right and the researchers did a study of independent voters and found more people identify themselves as independents than say they are republicans or democrats. this is a significant force, first of all. second of all, i think they are probably estranged from the parties and to some extent from the system, and nothing that's happened in the last ten, 15, maybe even
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20 years has changed that view of their position in the spectrum. i think, though, democrats shouldn't be confused or shouldn't delude themselves here. the fact that they're getting those votes does not mean they own them, they're running the same way obama did in 2008. i think they're pragmatic and waiting for results, in particular, jobs, and waiting for spending to be under control. jenna: what does this mean for 2012? >> interesting question, republicans may claim them, obama may get them back or maybe it's the making of a third party. it's going to be fascinating to watch. jenna: we'll have you more to talk about it. middle of the road raddle cas, it has a ring to it, more of a formidable force out there. you can get nonstop updates from our in field reporters. go to foxnews.com/politics and click on the follow fox link. we are your election headquarters across all platforms. middle of the road radicals, jon. what do you think? jon: sounds good to me, jenna, thank you! this fox news alert,
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alaska's former governor, sarah palin, raised more than $1.2 million for her political action committee during the last quarter. it's a financial disclosure just filed by her committee known as sarah potentials pac, it shows she spent about a million during that time, much of it for consulting, she also gave money to about 15 candidates, including senate hopefuls christine o'donnell of delaware, joe miller of alaska, marco rubio of florida, kelly ayote of new hampshire. her filing shows she ended september with nearly $1.3 million on hand. signs of a foreclosure mess, and some lawmakers are pushing for a nationwide moratorium on thosehome seizures, why some critics say that ultimately would make the housing market far, far worse. plus, french workers take to the streets. they are trying to shut down the entire country. it's all over the push to raise the retirement age by
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jenna: coming up new next hour, he set out on a solo hike more than a week ago and hasn't been heard from since. hair sis live at the breaking news desk with an update on this search. also the alleged honey bee killer, the suspect accused of going on a shooting spree across two states, now due in court. look at his uniform, guys! he's a former police
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officer. he's now set to face the judge in connection with two-state -- with a two-state shooting spree. new fears about china and the harsher tone its military is taking towards us, the united states, and what the pentagon is now doing. jon: let's get to the foreclosure crisis now. as the number of states attorneys general and lawmakers call for a slowdown for an outright moratorium on foreclosures, one question remains: what impact is this having on the housing market and price of your home, as well as the economic recovery overall? jim angle, live in washington with more. the white house, jim, doesn't seem to think it needs a national freeze on foreclosures or that it would be a good idea, right? >> no, they're worried about the consequences. white house adviser david axelrod made that clear, saying he's not sure that a national more toroo about a national moratorium because there are, as he put it, valid foreclosures that probably should go forward. even the secretary of housing and urban development warns of the risk of going too far on a
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freeze. the reason? they fear a freeze could slow the economic recovery to a fall and severely damage job creation -- to a crawl and severy damage job creation. jon: how would it affect jobs? >> across the board if legitimate foreclosures don't go forward those houses cannot be sold to other people, that hurts jobs in a big sector of the economy. listen: >> the folks who make their living off of new household formations, for example, designers, architects, contractors, construction contractors, manufacturers and retailers of electronics, kitchen alliance -- appliances, that sort of thing, not to passengers the real estate firms, surveyors, and the like, and as long as the foreclosures are hanging over the market it depresses prices for anyone trying to sell their own home and complicates efforts to refinance. on top of that, the federal government holds as many as
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half the bad mortgages through fannie mae and freddie mac. that puts the taxpayer on the hook for losses as well. needless to say when people can't pay their mortgages, banks don't get the payments but many americans, regular americans, are invested in mortgages as well, whether they realize it or not. >> those investors have pension funds and other organizations that pay money out to employees and former employees. this will have an adverse effect on them. >> reporter: so seniors could be affected. but the broadest impact, jon, is on the economy. in recessions, housing often recovers first and until it does, the overall economy is going to continue to struggle and unemployment will remain far too high. that's why administration officials say they want this resolved, as axelrod puts it, very, very quickly. jon. jon: what a mess. jim angle, thank you. >> absolutely. jenna: a sudden
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thunderstorms, sweeping across new york city, dumping marble-sized, large hail, right here in new york city on monday night. you're seeing some of it in brooklyn. in some parts it fell so quickly it actually looked like a snowstorm in october. most of it melted by the morning but still pretty crazy. the hail and heavy winds, also nothinging over at least one tree and leaving the ground in some areas, littered with trees and branches. jon: a potentially violent storm now swirling over the mississippi valley, threatening to batter that part of the country with hail and damaging winds. who better to keep an eye on it than janice dean. what's up, j.d.? >> reporter: this just in, snow, reported outside of denver, colorado. jon: one of my buddies was skiing yesterday! >> amazing. that's pretty exciting. jon: sure is. >> we're going to talk about the storms across the mississippi valley. tucker managed to snap this shot last night outside of
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his home in brooklyn heights. very rare that you can get a really good picture image of lightning. so that's pretty awesome. and ken, i just put it on my blog as well, check it out, you're famous. here's your -- here's your severe threat, the mississippi river valley, we have a storm system that's moving across. we don't have any warnings yet but the storm prediction center has deemed this region here a slight risk for large hail, strong winds, and we could see isolated tornadoes as we. so let's keep an eye on that. >> can you believe it, we're still talking about the tropics? this is hurricane paula. got that song in my head, ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪ hey, hey paula. >> ♪ >> ♪ it is expected to be a hurricane for the next several days, as it just kind of me anders here across the yucatan peninsula, cancun, sort of in its way here, could get heavy rains for parts of cuba, and just want to show you the computer models
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we're watching. a lot of divergence. we're going to have to monitor this, here's the gulf of mexico, water still very warm. we're going to have to keep an eye on paula, we'll keep an eye on the snow, severe weather, and send your pictures into us as well. our producer, of course, ken tucker, you can always e-mail us at you report at fox news.ko*plt. jon: tucker's head is swelling already! >> >> reporter: that was a great picture, though! you have to admit. jon: no more publicity for him, all right? okay, j.d. >> thanks, bye! jenna: fox news alert, police in north carolina, just issuing a statement in this desperate search for a missing ten-year-old cancer survivor. zahra baker has a prosthetic leg and forced to use a hearing aid because of chemotherapy. we have brand new developments. elizabeth prann is live in atlanta with more on this. what can you tell us? >> reporter: jenna, we just heard from the hickory
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police chief, he told us the amber alert has been canceled and it is now a homicide investigation but says there is no body that's been found in this case. remember the parents reported her missing saturday afternoon, the last time they saw her was early saturday morning, but the neighbors say they haven't seen her alive in weeks. she was home schooled so there was no way to tell if she was in the public school system. the chief spoke for a few moments but continued to ask for the public's help. he also mentioned that the stepmother who lives with her husband and is the father of the ten-year-old did admit to writing a ransom note that they found on the windshield of one the cars, two cars were parked out front and in addition, those cars picked up the scent around the cars over the weekend. jenna: that's big information, this amber alert canceled and now a homicide investigation starting. elizabeth, thank you very much for bringing us that breaking news, we appreciate it. another story we're watching closely as well, jon, about these university students.
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jon: that's a weird one. a dozen university students fall ill at an off campus party in washington state. cops say they were likely drugged, on purpose, with some kind of date rape drug. it's a shocking mass overdose. we have the latest next. >> they were falling down, their drinks were going everywhere and we were picking them up.le annouer ] i carried about four people downstairs.
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jenna: breaking news on the chilean miners, 33 of them trapped underground for more than 60 days now. we're just getting word that the rescue process we thought was going to begin overnight is actually going to begin within the next few hours, that's coming to us by way of a press conference there from the chilean minister of mining who says there's a few tests about to be run that he says in a few hours, these guys are going to start coming out and they do not foresee he says now any major problems. we are live there with that story on scene, we're going to go down to chile for a live report in a few moments
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jon: the battle for control of congress is not the only thing at stake three weeks from today. more than three dozen states across the country also holding governors' races. michigan usually goes for the democrats but now that state has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. voters might not be true blue there anymore. new polls show the state's republican candidate now leading in that race. mike tobin is live for us in lancing. how are things shaping up with less than a month to go, mike? >> jon, you definitely see a trend of michigan voters wanting to get the old school out and try something new. that is why you see in the polls a majority of voters lining up behind the political newcomer, republican candidate rick s snyder, he's a private sector guy, former president of gateway and successful venture capitalist. what he has promised michigan voters is common sense, private sector solutions to the one thing they care about most, job creation. >> government doesn't create
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jobs. government creates an environment where jobs can flourish. i know what it takes to create a job. i've done it many times. i know what it takes during tough times to keep a company going. >> reporter: the mayor of lancing is his opponent, he's a democrat, and the sentiment we're getting on the streets in lancing is that the democrats have been empowered, they had their chance, the jobs never came to michigan so the voters are trying to -- willing to try something new. >> can he close the gap? >> he is the better spoken of the two, he really seemed to dominate in the only debate the two of them had but snyder is able to play that to his advantage and enhance his label as political outsider, that leaves benero in a position where he had to make an argument that he still has a shot. >> let's not try to decide it for the voters. i appreciate pollsters and pundits and prague nos
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indicators but the folks that count are the people, they are the ones who are going to determine this election. >> but the spread is big, 13-20 percent in most of the polls showing snyder in the lead and what's interesting about the whole thing, a year ago you'd be hard pressed to find anyone in michigan who knew the name rick snyder. back to you. jon: that's an amazing turnaround. thank you very much, mike. jenna: police are awaiting on tests to find out what sickened washington university students at a party. many were drinking alcohol and there was apparently drugs. take a listen to what fellow students had to say about this. >> it kind of looked like a trauma center. there was about seven -- 11, 12 bodies down there. it was a mess. >> she woke up in the hospital the next day and she told me that she know she was in the hospital but she doesn't remember if she got ripped the night before. >> fry mend was -- friend
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was at the appear and he \dollars/{^ed} -- he went upstairs and saw people convulsing and he was like call the cops. >> reporter: this is frightening, jenna, because a lot of the people who were at that party, who had this happen to them, some dozen of them who went to the hospital, were underage women, and that's one of the reasons why police now are looking very closely at the possibilities that a date rape drug may have been the substance that set them -- got them all sick at the party. not all were women but the majority of them were and they were very young. so they're looking at that element. it will be weeks before the toxicology reports come out but the investigation has to move quickly because police say they couldn't turn up any evidence that whatever they were drinking was spiked at that home. this home is owned by the parents of a central washington university student, they say the student and his parents are cooperating fully at this time as they try to figure out what the substance was. possibly a date rape drug.
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and where it came from. very important questions. in the meantime, those people who are ill are said to be recovering fully. the students, they say, if they are students that did this, are likely going to be expelled. that's the word that we're getting today. and what will happen with those who hosted the party, they are cooperating, yet to learn what will happen on that end of the investigation. very scary indeed. you have underage, young girls being targeted and a question about what they drank. jenna: another good lesson on how you need to be careful, no matter what age, when you're out there at any of these parties. harris, thank you very much. >> no doubt. jon: let mem eat cake. right now french protestors are out in force, holding massive strikes, trying to shut down much of that country. they're rageing against a government plan to raise that retirement age. that age in question sounds pretty young to nous the states. the protestors having to upset at having to wait until they are 62 years old to retire. president nicholas sarkozy
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looking to raise the age as part of a reform package to the state's pension system. jenna: the deadly bombings of the u.s. embassies in africa, one of the first terror attacks linked to saw osama bin laden, now one of the suspects accused of plotting alongside the terrorist mastermind is getting ready for trial and it's the first trial ever for a gitmo detainee. we're going to take a first look at this case, next.
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again, it was supposed to start around 8:00 local time but more than 2 1/2 hours later it has now officially begun. major nidal hasan is being looked at in this trial. we'll see if he can actually be brought to the actual trial for 13 counts of premedicated murder -- meditated murder and 33 counts of attempted murder. so we're monitoring this closely coming out of fort hood, texas today. jon: we are waiting right now for the start of the very first civilian trial of a gitmo detainee. the suspect is charged with plotting to blow up the u.s. embassies in africa back in 1998. a terror attack that left more than 200 people dead. the prosecution is pushing ahead with the case even though its star witness will not be allowed to testify. joining us, charles culley simpson, this is a guy who has twice admitted to his role in attacking our embassy in tan zanie and yet those two confessions are
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not going to be allowed, right culley? >> i don't know whether they're going to be allowed or not. i suspect they're not going to be allowed, but remember jon, this guy was actually indicted, along with the other folks, back in 199 #, and the evidence they had at the time, the prosecutors deemed sufficient to go forward, so i think the government's argument is that we have more than enough circumstantial evidence, apart from anything after 9/11, to go forward with this trial. jon: yet the government lost its star witness, the guy who supposedly provided the explosives to ghalani, right? >> yeah, one of the opening questions in the previous trial that happened before 9/11 was who sold these guys the bomb making material and the truck and they got convictions, they have life sentences on the guys who committed these acted before but there was an open question and what they found out after they interrogated ghailani, the cia, was the name of that person and that was their star witness that judge kaplan threw out last
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week. jon: let's step back sort of away from the facts of the case, though, and talk about what's at stake here. this is the obama administration carrying out what it promised to do, put those gitmo detainees on trial in u.s. civilian court, and yet this case is not a slam dunk. >> well, there's no such thing as a slam dunk. that's why it's called a trial, not a guarantee, but this test, the policy preference of this administration, to some degree, and what you see is people who favor only federal trials are saying this will show how federal trials are great and those who favored just commissions are saying this will show that the federal trial will fail and commissions are necessary. it's somewhere in the middle, the trial will show whether they can finish unfinished business from the 1998 case and what we know already is this particular judge in this particular trial did not like the tainted evidence that came from ghailani's confession. so i wouldn't draw too broad of a policy implication from
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this case, at least so far. jon: but if this guy were to walk, and some observers say it's possible, he might not be convicted because the government can't use some of the evidence that it obtained from him through water boarding and that sort of thing. if he walks away, doesn't that throw out or call into question at least the wisdom of putting these guys on trial in civilian court? >> look, the standard for conviction at commissions at federal trial is beyond a reasonable doubt, the standard is the same. this administration has already said if ghailani is acquitted in this trial they can hole him as a belligerent in military detention. i'm not jumping on the band baggon that many are, that are saying this is chicken little, the sky is falling. this is a trial of evidence mostly derived, pre9/11, already tested and put before a jury, they reached a verdict of guilty. i think what we'll see in the weeks as this trial
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plays out is evidence that's already been tried and used in a previous trial with maybe snippets, the government is going to focus on his cup paility, the defense is going to focus on the fair treatment of the cia if they can. jon: cully has experience in civilian and military court. thank you for keeping an eye on this for us. >> thank you jon. jenna: freedom is possibly just hours away for the 33 trapped miners in chile. we have a live report from the scene, just ahead. plus the midterms are just three weeks away and we want to hear from you. so get your questions in and we're going to put them on the air. we've got a great panel of guests lined up for you, the voters, all part of our town hall series, america's asking, coming up, next hour, "happening now". rywhere. thousands of banking centers. ando many atms. all over the place. the new atm machines are really cool. -no deposit slips. -no envelopes. [ woman ] deposit your checks right here.
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jon: and i'm jon scott. president obama making another big push to get out the youth vote hosting a town hall for the internet crowd. mike emanuel is there at that building, you see, the white house. we have seen the president trying to restore some of the energy, energy eyes his base -- energize his base. what's unique about what's going on tonight? >> reporter: well, jon, the president's going to use twitter, skype, facebook to try to interact with the younger crowd. it'll be a very different feel than what we saw on sunday in philadelphia which was a very traditional democratic national committee campaign-style rally. this will be high-tech up the road at george washington university trying to get those younger voters who turned out in big numbers for him in 2008, but a lot of the polls suggest are not as fired up and ready to go this time around, jon. jon: and we learned more details today about the president's campaign travel and his plans to vote as well, huh? >> reporter: that's right. we expect he is going to vote
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absentee ballot, and that he's going to hit the road friday, go up to delaware, boston on saturday, two stops in ohio on sunday including a joint rally with the first lady, first time they've been on the campaign trail together since 2008. there'll be a west coast swing late next week trying to help some incumbents who have tough re-election battles including senator harry reid and barbara boxer in california. we expect the president will go out that final halloween weekend of the campaign, and we expect that he will be here at the white house on election night watching the returns with the rest of us, jon. jon: mike emanuel at the white house. thank you. jon: do you think he's going to watch fox? jon: i'm sure he does. everyone does. jenna: in the meantime, president obama's been hitting the road a lot lately, that is true, hoping to give democrats a boost in the midterms. at the same time, though, he's dealing with low approval ratings which could be a factor in some very key senate races.
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chris is our fox news digital editor, and before we drive into these polls in battleground states, talk to us about that broader theme, about how the president's approval ratings are affecting some of these races. >> well, jenna, i guess you'd have to say not well. the president does have a problem coast to coast, some places worse than others, but there are a lot of democrats this year who probably would be doing well or at least wouldn't be concerned if president obama's approval ratings were higher. most polls bring the president in the mid to low 40s. the state of ohio should be of particular concern to the white house, president coming in the at 33%. that's a pretty astonishing number. that that and just -- jenna: and just tell our viewers why ohio's so important. >> well, it's not only the state that democrats always must win in order to win the presidency, but it's a great bellwether for the rest of the country when we look at what counts and what matters. we look for voter trends in certain counties and districts
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in the ohio. other states like missouri come into play, too, but you can be guaranteed on election night on the decision desk we're going to be drilling down on precincts and counties in ohio because it tells us a lot about the way the rest of the country's going to behave. jenna: all right. let's talk about one of the more colorful races, linda mcmahon existence richard ard -- against richard blumenthal. here's one of the ads that came out from the mcma hon example. >> how do you create a jobsome. >> a job is created, and it can be in a variety of ways by a variety of people, but principally by people and businesses in response to demand for products and services and -- jenna: so, chris, is that working for mcmahon? that wasn't necessarily going negative, she just showed part of the debate that seemed sort of negative. >> well, i reckon that richard
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blumenthal wouldn't count it as a positive ad. the truth in connecticut is very interesting right now. linda mcmahon has picked up four points to get, now, within six on blumenthal who a few months ago was considered the prohibitive favorite, more than 20 points ahead, so for mcmahon to have gotten this close tells us that debate and blumenthal's response which was less than inspiring for a lot of voters, apparently, that mcmahon is covering ground and giving republicans some hope. jenna: speaking of more brash negative ads, let's talk about nevada as well. this was coming from the angle camp. we have another ad to show our viewers, and then we'll talk a little bit about it, chris. >> but here's the kicker, reid actually voted to use taxpayer dollars to pay for viagra for convicted child molesters and sex offenders. jenna: viagra, sex offenders? i mean, that is definitely a negative ad, chris.
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i mean, in the race, though, is tight. >> the race is tight. you know, everybody hates negative campaigning, but it work. and that's why people do it. and in the nevada race you see that angle for another week is holding on to a very thin lead, two points out there. that is a nail biter, jenna. it's going to be one of the closest on election night, and it's one we're watching the most closely. not only is about control of the senate, but also the senate majority leader, so that's a big, big race. now, when we drill down on these numbers and take away what's causing all of this and what happens when you run in this race whether it's been unstintingly, unerringly negative, negative, negative ads, these two campaigns have thrown more mud at each other than maybe any two politicians this year. and what we see is that both of them are disliked. and if both of their poll numbers are close to 60% when it comes to unfavorability, voters of nevada don't like either one of them particularly, neither
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reid nor angle. so it's coming down to a referendum on pram -- president obama, and if that's the case, it's not going to be easy for harry reid. jenna: chris, thank you very much for working through this with us. we appreciate it, as always. and campaign finance is just one of the issues, by the way, american voters are hearing about. we're going to want to hear from you about all that's happening with these midterms coming up. we have our town hall series, america's asking. we've assembled a number of guests plus our very own harris faulkner. that's coming up in just a little bit on "happening now." and by the way, you can get politically powered up every day until the midterms with the fox news power play where chris gives information exclusively to you. go to foxnews.com to get the ap j opinion downloads. find the new iphone politics
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app. jon: you've probably already heard that it looks like there won't be a cost of living adjustment for social security recipients this year, so if you or maybe someone you know is planning to retire around a municipal pension, listen up. dozens of cities, it looks like, are going to have trouble paying their pension obligations. connell mcshane from the fox business network is here with more on that. so give us some examples, which city is in the worst shape? >> probably philadelphia, jon, but a lot of cities and local governments are in bad shape. this new study, one from the university of rochester, another from north western says philly only has the assets on hand to fund pensions through the year 2015. chicago and boston aren't much better. stats that really bring this home to you, these professors looked at the average household liability for these pensions. 41,000 -- this is across 50 cities -- 41,000 is the average liability per household to pay these pension plans going
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forward. chicago's up at 71,000 so, obviously, it's a huge problem for state and local governments. they're going to be running out of money. jon: so how do you fix it? >> the simple answer is do rates of retirement age or just cut benefits. we were asking some of our viewers about whether they'd be open to raising the retirement age. we got varied responses, but a lot of people say, hey, we've got to do something. raise it up close to 70 so you can afford these pension benefits going forward, but a lot of these ideas around the table, if nothing is done, state and local governments run out of money. jon: or move to france where the retirement age is 60. all right, connell, thanks. jenna: right now concerns about china's military. the pentagon increasingly alarmed that beijing's armed forces are striking a harsher tone towards us, the united states. this comes as china's military is stepping up its profile. jennifer griffin is live from the pentagon. just kind of set the stage for us, what led to all this tension?
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>> reporter: well, there's been a lot of tension, but what's interesting today is that there was an ice-breaking moment in vietnam where defense secretary robert gates shook the hands of his defense counterpart, his chinese defense -- the chinese defense minister. this is the first time in the ten months -- in ten months that they have had contact, that the u.s. and chinese military, essentially, had been, that relationship had been iced for the last ten months, so this was a very key moment during a defense conference out in if vietnam. listen to secretary gates as he walked very carefully, diplomatically at the conference today. >> the u.s. has longstanding national interests in freedom of navigation and open access to asians' maritime commons. we believe that while we don't take sides in this, we don't have any territorial claims of our own, but we believe that these issues are best resolved
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through negotiation and collaboration. >> reporter: what you essentially saw secretary gates doing is he was walking a fine line between allowing this relationship to the warming of relationship with the chinese officials to continue, but also not, to give a signal to other smaller countries in asia who are very concerned about the chinese navy's expansionist tendencies right now. so he wanted to send a signal that the u.s. is going to still be backing those smaller asian countries as well without sending a signal to the chinese that relations are going to be on ice from here on out. jenna: yeah. something definitely to watch. we're watching it closely here, jen. thank you so much. jennifer griffin at the pentagon. jon: they have been trapped a mile and a half below the surface of the earth longer than any humans have been, and now we are just hours away from those miners in chile seeing daylight. steve harry began is there live. you won't believe some of the
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jenna: here's a look at the stories we're watching in the hour. a freight train slamming into a packed commuter bus in eastern ukraine today, at least 41 people are dead. the bus driver reportedly crossed the tracks despite a warning signal. now, the white house opposing a freeze on home foreclosures after allegations of possible mortgage fraud by banks. press secretary robert gibbs warning the freeze could have unintended consequences for the national housing market. and protests in transit strikes in france over a plan to hike that retirement age to save money. the senate there is expected to pass a bill by the end of the week raising the age from 60 to 62. jon: anticipation is building in
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chile right now ahead of a rescue operation two months in the making. it's an intricate plan to free those 33 trapped miners set to begin just hours from now. if all goes according to plan, the group will soon be back in the arms of their loved ones. steve harrigan is streaming live from the mine in chile. what are the preparations underway right now, steve? >> reporter: jon, preparations throughout the day continue to be that capsule which will haul the 33 miners up from half a mile underground one by one. that capsule has been lowered to just within 40 feet of those miners and brought back up several times. that hole itself, the escape shaft has been reinforced on top. some of the final preparations had to do with media presentation. there's been a giant stage built with bulldozers for the media, this in addition to being a rescue effort is a very carefully-choreographed television event in chile and for the world. it is an event with political implications as well.
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the president has been very careful to tie himself to in the crisis and throughout the two months, if you can believe it, we've seen his ratings, his popularity rise throughout the crisis. having 33 miners half a mile underground has been very good for the president of chile. the country has supported the moves, the money spent and the enormous effort made to bring them out safely. he intends to capitalize on that tonight in many a very public manner. jon: and what happens to the miners once they're out? >> reporter: the big question, john, is how much are people going to see of these miners when they come out one at a time? we've heard a siren will ring every time a miner comes to surface. if the weather is good, no fog, they will be taken by helicopter almost immediately to a nearby hospital. it's not clear what the media will be able to see. they built a platform, but they're also putting up a screen to block the view, so they're building something to show you the miners and something to block the view. it's likely how healthy these miners are when they come up
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will determine how much the world sees of them. jon: steve harrigan live from chile. thank you. jenna: well, a desperate search underway right now in colorado for a missing hiker from chicago. 31-year-old james nelson set out alone more than a week ago to climb that very difficult trail near vail, colorado. harris, have we heard anything from him since then? >> reporter: we haven't heard anything from him, jenna, and now i'm learning something has really complicated the search as they get set out with some 48 volunteers and experienced hikers and searchers, the vail mountain rescue group. get this. overnight a half a foot of snow. and i want to quote the coordinator of that vail mountain rescue group, this is going to make it more difficult for him to stay warm, to stay hydrated and a lot easier for him to hurt himself. the big question, did he go up the summit called holy cross? because, again, that route got even more snow than the half a foot that everybody else got
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last night. a 31-year-old james nelson wrote on a hikers' web site recently that he considers himself to be very knowledgeable and prepared. his fiancee, by the way, took this picture of him right as he set out. this would have been a five-day, 25-mile hike. for a guy like this that wrote that he can do this and quite knowledgeable, maybe not so farfetched. he's been missing since saturday they've been looking for him and with the weather, this is becoming more comply complicated. hopefully, there'll be some good news, but right now the weather is playing a role. jenna: keep watching it, harris. thank you so much. we're staying out in colorado for our next story. jon: we are, indeed. one of the hottest races in the country unfolding there. republican candidate ryan frazier, he's on the left, running against congressman ed perlmutter and giving the democrat a run for his money. frazier joins us live coming up. plus, americans are asking all kinds of things about these up coming elections as we head into november. we have some special guests to
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jon: a fox news alert, we're just getting word at "happening now" that a cargo plane has crashed in the mountains outside kabul in afghanistan, that according to an afghan airport spokesman. reports are that it hit a mountain. now, having flown into that airport, i can tell you that the planes take a very steep approach path into that airport. they want to avoid getting shot down by insurgents who sit on the mountaintops outside kabul hoping to pick off an allied aircraft. if that is what happened, we do not know. but there has been a plane crash outside kabul, a cargo plane. the source of that plane we also don't know.
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we'll stay on it, get you more information as soon as it becomes available. jenna: well, this also just in if, some incredible cell phone video taken by a student in nashville of a teacher completely losing it. and, harris, we're going to let the video speak for itself because we can't do this justice. >> reporter: yeah, no doubt. you and i probably never get to this point, at least not caught on tape, we'd like to think. oh, my goodness, were the cameras rolling for this teacher, and now i'm just learning that the tennessee teacher who had an outrageous behavior episode has just been put on administrative leave. i'll fill you in, take a peek at this. >> do you know who started the fire at school? no, me! >> reporter: you know, you can hear some of the students laughing and making fun of this
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in the background, but, you know, what we're learning now is perhaps this is a little bit more serious than we first thought. donald briar, i don't even have to say it, he's losing it there. he's a teacher in nashville, tennessee. his sister says at this hour he's now undergoing treatment at vanderbilt university medical center. nevertheless, releed of his duties -- relieved of his duties after what you saw his sister calls it a nervous breakdown. it hit youtube, went viral, and the school just now taking some action over this. this tape is not exactly brand new, but it's pretty fresh, -- fresh in its continuity. we hadn't seen all of it, and now we know those kids who were laughing in the background didn't feel threatened by him. the school felt it was important enough to put him on administrative leave until they can get to the bottom of why donald briarwood just simply lost it in class. back to you guys. jenna: all right, harris, thank you.
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jon: latest polls show more seats in the house are leaning republican in the upcoming midterm elections just three weeks from today. case in point, in colorado the seventh congressional district, it's a largely rural area to the east, it also raps around denver -- wraps around denver. the latest poll puts republican brian phrasier one point ahead of ed perlmutter, the post calling him the best choice to help bring balance to washington. mr. frazier joins us from denver. ryan frazier, why do you want this job? [laughter] >> jon, i just happen to think we owe our children a better america, and we need some new voices to help our country move in a better direction. i'm not wanting because i want to feel important, i think i can make a difference as it relates to our economy, providing some accountability in congress.
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jon: your district is pretty well evenly split between republicans, democrats and independents. you're running as a republican. what do can you say to those independents and democrats who are in the seventh district? >> you know, i talk to them about the issues they talk about. at the end of the day, jon, folks want food on their table, a roof over their head and clothes on their children's backs. we aren't talking about what people care about. so i'm talking about to folks about jobs and the economy, about what we can do to create the confidence we need in the country to see job creation and also about how we can start to get our fiscal house in order. i mean, most people have to live within their means, and i think americans want their government to do the same. this is not rocket science, you know? we have to insure that the amount of monies coming in don't exceed the amount of monieses going out. we have to put our government on a path towards that end. jon: ed perlmutter has had the job, well, he's in his second term now. he's been a pretty solid
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democratic vote. he voted for cap and trade, he voted for the health care reform bill, he voted for the stimulus bill, he voted for card check. would you have voted no on any or all of those pieces of legislation? >> absolutely. you know, my opponent votes with nancy pelosi 98.3% of the time. that's more than barney frank. it does not represent colorado. these pieces of legislation are going to do more harm to our economy and individual freedom than they should, and i would have supported, i think, free market reforms when it comes to health care. i think there are better solutions to insure more americans have access to quality care in this country. when it comes to stimulating your economy, we know that there are common sense policies that incentivize investment and give businesses the confidence. right now, jon, one of the biggest issues we have in this country is that our small businesses and large businesses alike don't have the confidence they need to make those calculated risks to invest and
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create jobs. we've got to fix that in washington. jon: all right. ryan frazier is running for congress from the seventh congressional district in colorado. he's 33 years old, a naval veteran. and running for that seat. we also wanted to mention we reached out to ed perlmutter to see if we could get him on "happening now," he says he has a very packed schedule this week. we'll try to talk with him another time. jenna? jenna: and all those races add up. all of them add up to see if the balance in congress is going to change, well, come november 3rd. jon: tight race in colorado. jenna: yeah. speaking of what america's talking about, we want to hear from you. we have our town hall series, america's asking. and we've assembled a great panel of guests to help respond to what's on your mind coming up in just a little bit, so stay with us for that. also, a police officer accused in a two-state shooting spree is due in court today. the latest on the case against him and the strange, strange comments victims say the gunman made before pulling the trigger.
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word of what has happened to them, but those are very forbidding mountains that surround that city. it's going to be tough to find survivors in the a crash like this. we'll get you more information as it becomes available. jenna: well, a suburban chicago police officer on the wrong side of the law today. 37-year-old brian dorian accused in a two-state shooting spree that left one man dead. harris has more from our breaking news desk. >> yeah. actually before he was picked up, there were people on the indiana side of the state line and illinois who say they were on edge until they could find out who had opened fire asking about honeybees before pulling a gun in rural areas of those two states killing one and injuring two others. the suspect, you mentioned, is brian dorian. he was on medical leave from the lynnwood police department for a shoulder injury. it's expected to be quite a crowd in the courtroom today because his family and fellow police officers say they will stand behind him no matter what.
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our fox affiliate in chicago is reporting that brian dorian on his facebook page has posted that he got pulled over and ordered out at gunpoint because he matched, quote, this lunatic's description. i definitely don't like being on the other side of the gun barrels pointing at me, end quote. our chicago fox affiliate saying that's what was posted on his facebook page. his friends and family say they believe he had nothing to do with this, they'll be in court today. i'll watch it closely. of he was called the honeybee killer. again, the suspect -- the gunman -- because of questions about honeybees before he opened fire. back to you. jenna: odd case, harris. thank you. >> it is. jon: right now cracking down on distracted drivers. last spring the feds launched a pilot program in a couple of cities flooding streets with extra police to ticket drivers who they found gabbing away or texting on cell phones. so how's it working? laura ingal took a ride with the develops to find out. >> reporter: hey, jon.
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the pilot program is called phone in one hand, ticket in the other, and it works just like it sounds. if you caught driving while texting or talking on your cell phone without a hands-free device, it's going to cost you. officers are on the lookout for drivers with cell phones that are, you know, on the steering wheels or drivers staring down into their laps. >> this is very dangerous behavior. if you're looking down at a blackberry and texting while you're driving and you go four to five seconds, you drive the length of a football field in a 4-5,000 pound car that i call an unguided missile. >> i hear stories all the time from parents, family members and victims about the tragedy that occurred because of someone else's bad behavior. no one wants to have that on their conscious, so we're just saying begin to think about that. change your behavior because it could cost you your life or the life of someone else. >> reporter: 5500 people were
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killed last year as a result of distracted driving. a public service announcement, which you see here, runs simultaneously with the crackdown to get the point across which has not yet connected with all drivers like one woman we spotted during our ride-along. she was pulling over to the side of the road as she picked up her phone to take a call. >> when she was driving by, she was talking on the phone -- >> reporter: so she thought she was doing the right thing though. >> she was trying to do the right thing, but you can't answer the phone and be driving down the road. >> reporter: some in the electronics industry say using devices while driving is a label, then things like eating, smoking and grooming should be, too, and there should be laws passed on save -- safe driving rather than banning specific electronics, so that battle goes on. jon: laura ingal, thanks n. jenna: drivers in seattle must feel like they really have some sort of targets on their backs. the city is making it harder to park and writing more tickets to raise cash.
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the drivers aren't the only ones complaining about this. dan springer's live in seattle with more. what is seattle doing to pull people out of their cars? >> reporter: well, i tell you, some people, jenna, are calling this seattle's war on cars. it's an all-out assault, they're saying they're trying to balance the budget on the backs of motorists, and in a sense it's working because they are writing a lot more parking tickets. they're on pace to write $23 million worth of parking tickets this year, that's a 50% increase. they're also jacking up the taxes to parking lot owners which, of course, they pass that along to the parkers, the people who use those lots. they're also jacking up the metered parking rates, up to four bucks an hour, that's the second highest in the nation behind chicago. they're also putting seattle on a road diet. they're taking out lanes for cars and giving them to bicyclists. well, the mayor doing all this is mayor mike mcginn. he often rides his bike to work, and his critics are calling him mayor mcschwin. >> there is no way we can be a
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growing city if we try to accommodate everybody who came to our town by single-occupancy vehicle, and it's not a question of whether you love cars or not, it's actually just a simple matter of physics. >> reporter: now, the sierra club which is where mcginn worked last year supports this measure. they say cars contribute to global warming. jenna? jenna: road diet. i hadn't heard -- i hadn't heard heard -- i had heard road rage before. there is some pushback not just from the people who love their big trucks and suvs here. >> reporter: well, that's right. the downtown businesses have gotten together to pose these measures. they say, look, at a time when we're being killed by this recession, we are discouraging people from driving their cars if they live in the suburbs or in the outlying areas of the city, we're discouraging them from coming downtown and spending money, we're putting up road blocks. we talked to one guy who has had
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his business drop 40% since the recession hit. >> i think it's ridiculous. i mean, business is bad enough as it is, and my customers or would-be customers are, basically, just not going to come here. >> reporter: and this parking crunch is only going to get worse because another policy they've enacted in the city of seattle is they no longer require developers, people who build businesses, shops, condos, apartment buildings, they no longer require them to provide new parking, so this crunch is going to get worse. if you find a parking space, if you're lucky enough, you're going to pay for it. jenna: dan, i kind of see you on a beach cruiser as well. is that what you use? >> public disclosure, i've got three cars, so i'm public enemy number one in this city. jenna: oh, man, you're in this trouble. [laughter] thank you so much, dan. jon: straight ahead, america's asking town hall. we are taking questions directly from you, our viewers.
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if there is anything you want to know about what goes on from capitol hill to the white house, we'll get you the answers you need. our crack political panel coming up on "happening now." [ female announcer ] in the coming weeks and months, you may notice something a little different about eggland's best eggs. now, addition to the taste and nutrition you and your family love, eggland's best will proudly be displaying its support for susan g. komen for the cure®, the world's largest breast cancer organization, in its promise to end breast cancer rever. eggland's best. better taste. better nutrition. and a greater commitment to what matters. because part of being the best is doing good. ♪ ♪ if you have gout, high uric acid can lead to more attacks. ♪ to help reduce attacks, lower your uric acid.
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and to make this journey, we have become the new order of hunters and gatherers. finding answers in the elements. and a way forward illuminated by hope. megyn: hey, everybody, i'm megyn kelly. the president and vice president personally attacking the chamber of commerce. the chamber responds live right here. plus, president obama tells african-american voters that republicans want them to stay home on election day. true? race baiting or both? her name is crystal ball, and she is running for the u.s. congress. she also happens to have racy pictures of her college days all over the web. she calls it a sexually attack, and she'll be here live. and a couple harasses a dying 7-year-old girl. why aren't they in jail? in kelly's court, see you top of
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the hour. jenna: we at "happening now" want to ask you, america, what questions do you want and do you need answered before you head to the polls? every day up until november 2nd we're going to take your questions to some of the brightest minds out there in our new america's asking town hall. and you can e-mail us directly, you can put some of your questions on our blog, there's even a twitter account if you'd like to use that. this is all an effort to make sure we provide you the best perspectives and information so you can be the best voter come november thened. juan williams is a senior correspondent for npr, also a fox news contributor. former press secretary to montana mitt romney's campaign, and me saw. we well i don't mean you all -- welcome you all. nina, we were hearing a lot about the foreclosure moratorium about this issue about the economy, and tweet si bird -- that's not the given name on the
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birth certificate -- has this to say. i would like to know what the republicans plan to do to help the economy. have you heard any plans, nina? >> well, certainly the republicans feel like the business sector has been shackled underneath president obama, and they want to do more to provide incentives for businesses to hire. keeping taxes low, keeping the bush tax cuts in place and so on. it's a tough economy, though, i have to say that out front even though republicans come in, they will still face the problem of a mismatch between skills, for example, and jobs. so there's a million jobs out there that are going wanting because there aren't workers with the skills, and it's more of a long-term problem. but the republicans, what they do want to do is lift a lot of the uncertainty that's keeping businesses from investing and hiring workers, and it's keeping companies sitting on capital right now. jenna: so, juan, for example,
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that means extending some of the bush tax cuts which is something that republicans have floated out there. dr. b. in new jersey brings up a really good point. he said after the 2010 midterms if they result in a very even ri-divided house and senate, what can we expect as americans, what should we expect from congress? >> well, i think you're going to have, then, the president looking for some common ground, and the most likely area that would bear fruit would be deficit reduction. you know, we have got this deficit reduction panel that's going to be making recommendations in early november. already you're hearing talk about what could be done with entitlement programs such as social security, very highly politically charged to make any suggestions on that front. i think with alice rib lin, the former omb directer, who came forward with some suggestions recently and immediate lid set off sparks. but to get back to the larger question, i think that, you know, while republicans talk about expanding tax cuts,
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democrats are focusing on the program introduced by president obama yesterday talking about repeal to the transportation system, rebuilding american infrastructure, the emphasis there is on the construction industry which has been hard hit. jenna: so, kevin, there's a good question from woody talking about infrastructure. we're told our infrastructure is ox lead and crumbling. what happened to the taxes collected to maintain those things? >> well, that's, i think, at the heart of a lot of frustrations that voters have. they look at washington as a very inefficient place when it comes to solving problems and spending money. while people think they're continuing to see their tax collars here, they're not getting enough for their money, so that's a key frustration. i think a lot of republicans are going to continue to address that, finding ways where government can be smaller, leaner, more efficient so it addresses a lot of the anxiety these voters have. jenna: we have some more anxiety in our questions that we're going to answer. juan, nina and kevin stand by.
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jon: here's an interesting question, jenna. you've heard some politicians talking about freezing all foreclosures nationwide. well, donald dunlap in irondale, alabama, wants to know if foreclosures are froze oren, why should i pay my mortgage? the answer right after the break. host: could switching to geico really save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance? do woodchucks chuck wood?
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jon: let's get back to our new america's asking town hall. you ask the questions, and we try to get you the answers you want before election day. let's bring our panel back in. juan williams for npr, kevin madden, the former national press secretary to mitt romney, and nina easton, also a fox news contributor. nina, take on that question i asked before the break from donald in irondale, alabama. he say, if foreclose you ares
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are going to be frozen, and a lot of politicians are saying let's do that nationwide, he's asking tongue in cheek, why should i pay my mortgage? and and you know what, donald? that goes right to the fairness question that, i think, is driving a lot of the anger towards washington. the calls for a freeze on foreclosures because of sloppy paperwork by some banks overwhelmed by the foreclosure situation is, actually, it's coming from people like partisan like nancy pelosi and harry reid. you're not hearing this from the treasury department, first of all. and what it's doing is if you freeze foreclosures, all it does is prevent the market from bottoming out which is what it needs to do in order for the economy to recover. we keep putting, we keep refusing to take the band-aid off the housing industry, and the housing industry does need to reach that level where it can begin to recover. you've also got a lot of homes, keep in mind, that are empty, that are already foreclosed on,
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and it's creating crime and problems of decline in neighborhoods. you've got to move on with that, and so it -- calling for a freeze in foreclosures doesn't help anybody. jon: juan, open up your crystal ball and answer this question. debbie whistle asks, when will the value of my house go back up? we cannot sell because we owe more than what it's worth. are there other people out there with this problem? i can answer the last part of that question, the answer is, yes. juan, you take on the rest of it. [laughter] >> well, jon, this whole phenomenon is called having your house underwater, so that'd be, yes, lots of people in this situation. and when is the market expected to go back up? i think people are thinking that next year economic growth is pretty much going to be about what we've seen this year, 2% or so, not very aggressive. so i wouldn't imagine it will be next year. i guess we're looking, then, towards a year or two beyond that, and as nina was just, you know, talking about, the question is when does that
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market bottom out, and when do we get past all these foreclosures? real estate, though, i've got to say is value. i don't care where you are, location, location, location, real estate has value, and i wouldn't be running away from that market. jon: i'll sell you a bridge in brooklyn, juan. [laughter] kevin, here's one from someone who calls himself or herself a senior citizen, says, who decide the cost for living for social security? is it congress? how do they come up with the cost of living not increasing? there's a lot of outrage out there, as you know, kevin, about the fact that for the second year in a row there will be no upward cost of living adjustment in those social security checks. >> not exactly sure who comes up with that, i think there are all sorts of oversight boards -- jon: a lot of people who make their living deciding whether or not these social security checks go up. >> that's right. and i think but it does speak to a lot of concerns that senior citizens have right now which is that they have these kitchen table anxieties. they see the money that's coming in, they see the costs that are
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going up, and they can't deal with it, and that's why there's a t of anger at washington, and there's this, this real, like, depression that a lot of people have right now about the direction of not only the economy, but the country. and they're very worried about it, and they're very likely -- especially senior citizens -- to take those concerns to the ballot box on november 2nd and register a vote against republicans -- against democrats and against president obama's agenda. jon: kevin, juan, nina, thank you all. >> thank you. jenna: well, remember, we'll be holding our town hall usa five days a week on "happening now." send us your questions at foxnews.com/happening now. america's asking, and we're getting the answers. we're going to be right back with more. @=h
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i graduated from west point, then i did a tour of duty in iraq. when ias transitioning from active duty, i went to a military officer hiring conference. it was kind of like speed dating. there were 12 companies that i was pre-matched with, but walmart turned out to be the best for me. sam walton was in the military, and he understood the importance of developing your people. it's an honor to be in a posion of leadership at walmart. i'm captain tracey lloyd, and i wo at walmart. ♪ jon: thanks for joining us today. jenna: "america live" starts right now. megyn: moments ago the white house offered new support to investigations into foreclosure proceedings going on inch up to 40 states. that comes in the wake
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