only 70 bottles available in the united states. experts say it's a pretty good deal. you need to go to scottsdale to snatch it up. bill: we'll take two. catch you tomorrow. martha: see you back here tomorrow. happening now starts right now. >> brand new stories and breaking news. jenna: we're watching several things happening. moments from now the president will deliver a speech on the importance of helping american companies sell their products and services around the world. we'll watch that and bring any new headlines to you. big deal on benghazi. there is ambassador pickerring. there is a hearing on the terrorist attacks. lawmakers want to know who will be held accountable for the decisions leading up to the murder of four americans. what does accountability look like? on to the washington navy yard, the site of the massacre of 12 people reopening today. employees are reporting to work. we'll bring you latest from there and washington, d.c. it is all "happening now."

jenna: another busy day uncovering truth about benghazi. two more hearings on capitol hill. lawmakers are digging deeper for facts, deif manning answers for the american people. some lawmakers not everybody though. one hearing is in the house armed services committee but the one happening during our show is in the oversight committee. that's where we expect the fireworks to come. welcome to "happening now." i'm jenna lee. >> i'm gregg jarrett in for jon scott. after months and months of delays we're finally hearing from the leaders of that accountability review board on benghazi. the official review found a number of serious failures but left a lot of questions unanswered. jenna: we should note, gregg, that democrats and republicans remain deeply divided over the report's findings. they took things away from this report opposite ends of the spectrum. they also have a big difference how the review process has played out. keep that in mind.

lawmakers still want to know about requests for extra security before last year's attacks on september 11th and why the internal review board didn't hold higher-ranking officials responsible. today's hearing marks the first time the chairman and vice chairman of the review board are giving public testimony. admiral mullen insisting nothing could be done to save the four americans who lost their lives in the benghazi attack. ambassador pickerring laying blame on the terrorists while pointing a finger directly at security failures. >> systemically failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus of the department of state resulted in a security posture that the special mission in benghazi that was inadequate for the mission. and grossly inadequate to deal with the attacks. jenna: parents of two of the victims also scheduled to give testimony today. patricia smith, mother of sean smith, and charles woods, father of navy seal, former navy seal tyrone woods. we're still waiting to hear from

them. we'll bring you there when we do. joining us from the hearing, former congressman ron desantos. member of house oversight and government reform committee. he stepped out of the committee to join us. he is also a member of the foreign affairs committee which held its own hearing on benghazi yesterday. you're a busy man, congressman. thanks for joining us. >> anytime. jenna: what makes today different? he. >> well this day focusing on the accountability review board. as we sit here over one year after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, 2012, no one in the state department has been held accountable and also of course the terrorist who is perpetrated the attack haven't been held accountable. i think a lot of americans look at this. they see four brave americans who were killed and they think that somebody needs to be held accountable for this. jenna: what does that mean, congressman? we hear the word accountability. what does it mean for officials at the state department? what does it mean for the terrorists?

>> i think for people in the bureaucracy, what it doesn't mean you just get reassigned to continue to receive pay and some of the people they did that to have been now reinstated and secretary kerry said they never should have been reassigned in the fir place. we never have really gotten anybody fired, reprimanded, in any way held accountable but -- jenna: who would you hold accountable because we heard yesterday during the foreign affairs committee there were reports that some in the gop side might actually ask for the resignation of ambassador kennedy. that did not happen. who at this time do you think should resign, be fired, be dismissed because of actions related to benghazi? >> well that's one of problems we have with the arb is that after the '98 attacks in east africa at our embassies, that arb said ultimately the responsibility for security rests with the secretary of state and yet on this arb after

benghazi these arb members did not actually interview secretary of state hillary clinton or the most senior people in the state department. and so we think that's a major short coming and so what we're trying to show today unlike what the white house said that this arb has closed the issue, answered all the questions, it really left open a lot of major questions and i think that's what the american people want to see. jenna: to correct those errors, will you call former secretary of state hillary clinton to the hill to testify? >> well that will be up to the committee chairman but i think, as we've looked more and more into this, i think that there are a lot of questions that were left unanswered for her testimony in january in front of the foreign affairs committee. even yesterday with ambassador kennedy, he was asked about the terrorists who perpetrated the attack, did he believe they were ansar al sharia. he said, well, it doesn't really matter who it was, it was a terrorist attack and that actually harkened back to

hillary's statement, what difference does it make whether it was a terrorist attack at all. i think most people think it matters if it was a terrorist attack. we want to know which terrorists did it so we can hold them accountable. jenna: our colleague, congressman trey gowdy was on our show yesterday. he said the same thing that the decision was up to leadership. are you asking leadership, your leadership to call hillary clinton? >> well i could say i would absolutely be supportive of that if that were done. jenna: okay. >> i think our oversight committee has not called her in front of this committee. we did have her for foreign affairs. i think it would be very appropriate to do that. jenna: let mee ask you quick i know the hearing is underway you have to get back in there. what is next? we have three hearings in the house oversight. we had four in foreign affairs. what is next in all of this? >> so this is what we're doing today is dealing with the lack of conclusive answers with the state department security decisions and that's important,

we'll continue to do that. armed services is looking at the military response. why weren't any assets at least marshalled to help those guys who were under fire? we have to continue to get answers there. in terms of finding the terrorists, that may not be something that we're going to hold an oversight hearing on but i think we're waiting patiently for this. we heard some people have been indicted who were involved in this but to this date no official action has been taken. one of the lessons of 9/11, 2000 one, was, if you hit us, we're going to hit back, we're going to hold you accountable one way oar the other. jenna: so many of our viewers want answers on this and i know some of the parents inside the hearing today also want those answers. congressman, nice to have you on. look forward to having you back. thank you. >> okay, thanks. >> right now a plan to prevent a government shutdown directly tied to defunding obamacare. house law make remembers planning to vote on the spending plan tomorrow. the measure would fund the

government through december 15 at the current levels but here's the condition. only in obamacare is defunded. now the white house of course threatening a veto as the bill is winning praise from senators marco rubio of florida, ted cruz of texas, mike lee of utah. >> okay, so what happens next after it passes the house? is at that moment, once the house passes this, the only people who can produce a government shutdown at that point, are harry reid and the senate democrats and the president of the united states. if they are willing to say to the american people, look, because you want to defund obamacare, even though you're willing to fund everything else in government, we're going to shut doesn't government? jon: chief congressional cannot mike emanuel standing by live on capitol hill. mike, there appears to be some friction on the republican side about how far to take this fight. >> reporter: that's right, gregg. house conservatives who pushed leaders to defund obamacare to

fight that cause are wonder if some of their senate conservative colleagues are giving up without a fight. statement from texas senator ted cruz clearly irrate tate the house conservatives. harry reid will no doubt try to strip the defund language from the continuing resolution. he likely has votes to do that. since then senate conservatives talk about the challenge they face. >> i would make a plea today to 46 senate republicans today is a day for party unit. every senate republican should stand with republicans in the house, should stand with conservatives and should stand with the american people. >> obamacare can only be stopped if 41 republicans got together and said, we're going to have things come to a standstill and we're going to say to the senate, you don't get 100% of what you want. >> reporter: but number about senate republicans seem concerned this fight over defunding obamacare could lead to a government shutdown and clearly seem worried that they could get the blame, gregg?

>> what are key democrats saying at this point, mike? >> reporter: as you mentioned at the top the president issued a veto threat and a number of democrats are saying gop leadership is following its most conservative members. they argue this fiscal fight is dangerous. >> i'll tell you what we're not going to do. i'll teleyou what we're not going to do. we're not going to blink. you can't be held hostage. you can't have someone put a gun to your head and say, we're going to do horrible, ridiculous things unless you give in to us. and so we're standing firm. >> they want to ping-pong this with the senate and they put down their marker and they're going to see what the senate says. people on main street, people in their homes are sick and tired of the games. they want a responsible set of solutions to the nation's problems. >> reporter: we're already seeing signs of democrats starting a campaign on shutdown of government and default and blaming conservatives for it. gregg? >> the rhetoric is certainly

escalating. mike emanuel, amid all of it there on capitol hill. mike, thank you very much. >> reporter: thank you, sir. jenna: fox news alert. new violence erupting in syria. al qaeda-linked gunmen reportedly capture ad border town. turkey has closed one of the border crossings due to security concerns, cutting off humanitarian aid. remember, many refugees flowed into syria, into turkey from syria, tens of thousands and turkey is trying to deal with that. this as fox news correspondent greg palkot sat down for an exclusive interview with syrian president assad and fox news contributor and former congressman dennis kucinich helped secure. palkot asking assad tough questions about the country's civil war and plans to get rid of syria's chemical weapons. assad refusing to take responsibility for recent chemical attacks that killed more than a thousand syrians. >> no one has verified the credibility of the videos and pictures. >> okay. >> no one verified.

only verified things of a sample that the delegation going and took, samples of blood and other things from the -- >> which is what they say they have. >> you can not build a report on videos. it is not very fair. >> they're basing it on blood samples. >> forgery for the last three years and a half. jenna: leland vittert has details from jerusalem. leland? >> reporter: jenna, president assad did offer some major concessions in that interview including for the first time publicly admitting that his country does have vast stockpiles of chemical weapons and is saying he is willing to live up to his promises to destroy them. as we've been reporting for a long time, destroying those chemical weapons during peacetime is difficult. during the raging civil war going on inside syria right now even harder. >> say that it needs a lot of money. needs about one billion. it is very detrimental to the environment. if american administration is

ready to pay both money and take responsibility of bringing toxic materials to the united states, why don't they do it? >> reporter: president assad also talked a lot about what he calls, terrorists. and that is the foreign fighters, namely hardcore jihad its who are coming into syria to fight. they say they want an islamic state inside syria. to his point just today, turkey shut down one of the main border crossings. turkey long supported the rebels in the civil war. they say it is just too dangerous as al qaeda-inspired fighters moved into the one of the border villages in syria. kicked out all the moderate-backed, western-backed rebels inside of this. this goes to the core of the problem for the united states here as things look, in a sense while president assad certainly committed awful atrocities in his attempt to stay in power, jenna, the people who are best armed, best equipped to take over if president assad leaves probably aren't any better and in some cases we've seen even

worse. back to you. jenna: leland vittert inside jerusalem. back to you. >> the washington navy yard is open for normal operations three days after the deadly shooting rampage. the installation reopened 6:00 a.m. today. the navy said it will be a regular workday there except for the building where the shootings occurred and the base gym which the fbi is using now as a staging area for the investigation. some employees entering the gate are saying it's a little unsettling to be coming back to work so soon after 12 of their coworkers were murdered there. the mother of the gunman speaking out saying she is heartbroken for all of the victims but glad that her son is in a place where he can no longer hurt anyone. we're going to take you there to the navy yard live in the next hour. jenna: back to business but certainly not the same today. a gunbattle in a major city. we'll tell you who security forces are looking for and where this is happening. also a series of explosions at a chemical plant to tell you

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gregg: fox news alert. stunning legal development in texas. the court of appeals has overturned money laundering and conspiracy conviction of former congressman tom delay. i'm just reading the court decision. which says that the charges were legally insufficient and so was the proof. fairly lengthy decision here but basically the court of appeals say wait a minute for money laundering you have to have knowledge and intent that the money is going to be transferred for criminal activity. there was no evidence of that in the case and so the conviction and three-year sentence which had been set aside pending appeal has now been reversed and

we -- jenna: is that it, gregg? is that it for now? is he totally in the clear? gregg: no, not necessarily. prosecutors can appeal it to a higher court. it is questionable whether they're going to do that. basically, i'm reading this decision. it's, it's a pretty severe criticism of the prosecution. of course tom delay, no longer a congressman. i didn't know this until you told mee a moment ago. jenna: how can you not think about "dancing with the stars" a couple years ago? he was a former majority leader. he is also known for this, "dancing with the stars", gregg. gregg: i had no idea. jenna: this was something he was doing a couple years ago but, it will be interesting to see what he does next, right? gregg: yeah. jenna: if this is the case, he is cleared and life goes on. gregg: i don't think he will be a hoover. that is just my guess. jenna: give him credit for that. not easy to today. we'll keep him up-to-date on more developments this hour. more information on a series of explosions following a fire at a chemical plant. this was a scene at at danlin

industries plant in oklahoma. we're told no one was inside when the fire broke out late yesterday and no one was hurt but nearby areas were evacuated overnight. reminds us of scary explosions we've seen of late. casey stiegel live from dallas with more. casey? >> reporter: jenna, a those 75 employees working at plant were mighty lucky can i when you consider everyone went home for the day. it happened in thomas, oklahoma, a half hour drive west of oklahoma city for perspective. only a very small community, 1200 people or some fire erupting at a plant with chemicals used for oil field production. you can see small explosions sending flames and plumes of smoke into the night sky on your screen. we have new pictures coming in to us from the air. we understand the facility is a total loss. you can get a better feel of from these helicopter shots. a handful of folks living in surrounding neighborhoods had to be evacuated from their homes because of chemical fumes and

the threat of flare-ups. >> it's scary, yeah. i didn't know what to do at first. i didn't know if we were going to have to leave town because my dad's not here. so we wouldn't really be able to do much so. kind of scary. >> reporter: no word yet on a cause and all of the evacuation orders have now been lifted, jenna. jenna: interesting. casey, thank you. gregg: new questions about whether a push for diplomacy in syria is only preserving the power of this man on the right-hand side of your screen, the president there, bashar assad. former undersecretary of defense douglas fife thinks that is the case. he will be joining us next to explain why. a 14-year-old girl from georgia found safe after she was abducted in a violent home up vision but now a new twist in that case. ♪

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jenna: right now some new questions how the united states is handling the crisis in syria and whether a switch to diplomacy following a chemical weapons attack that killed hundreds of people is only helping to keep president assad in power. douglas fife writes in the "wall street journal" saying quote, secretary of state john kerry labors to assist assad in arms control project even while alleging the dictator has used nerve gas in violation of syria's obligations under the 1925 geneva protocol. u.s. policy is not to out of the assad regime or even encourage the syrian people to do is a so. the president obama has now create ad u.s. interest in pry serving assad in power. we showed you this earlier in the show but president assad spoke to our own greg palkot and

repeatedly denied using chemical weapons insisting that the u.n. report that came out is at least inconclusive at this time. douglas feith is author of war and indecision. at the dawn of war on terrorism. former undersecretary of defense for policy under president george w. bush. doug, nice to have you on the program. >> good to be with you. jenna: why do you think our interest is now keeping assad the same man that we say murdered his own people? why are we now preserving him in office? why do you believe that? >> i think that president obama has essentially changed the subject. instead of focusing on the reasons why assad must go, he is now said that we want to work with assad as a partner in eliminating syria's chemical weapons. and what that means essentially is, that what assad has done, i mean assuming that it is he who did this chemical attack, that would be perhaps the most

successful chemical attack in history because he, assad is working on preserving himself in power. as a result of this chemical attack he now has eliminated the threat of an american military strike and he is preserved himself in power. jenna: you're saying essentially we need him as a partner now. he is the one that says he will work with the u.n. in russia and give up his chemical weapons? >> i think that's the administration's view. jenna: i asked lawmakers about this from both parties who did not want military intervention about elevating assad to a new level. and, doing this deal and going the diplomatic route. and their response has been, well, we don't want war. so this is the alternative and we don't want war so this is what we're going to do. what about that? when experts say the devil that you know is better than the devil you know so it is okay to leave assad in power because we know who he is? >> i think there is a strategic picture that syria fits into and that is syria is iran's most

important ally in the middle east. syria, the assad regime, has been extremely hostile to the united states and was instrumental in helping the forces in iraq that were killing americans to do so. i think the united states has a strong interest in the defeat of the assad regime. i do not believe that requires the united states to go to war and land people on the ground or, launch an invasion. there are many things that we can do short of an up vision of syria that could assist the rebels in getting rid of assad. as i said, i think the key thing is to see syria in its strategic context and to see that america does have a very strong interest that the large iranian and russian investment in keeping assad in power is not a success. jenna: doug, nice having you on

the program. thank you. >> nice to talk to you. gregg: well, a seaside community getting back on its feet after superstorm sandy suddenly facing a new challenger after a massive boardwalk fire destroyed dozens of businesses. we're going to talk to the owner of a business made famous on reality tv. we'll find out what he is now planning. and more on today's benghazi hearing. lawmakers questioning the authors of a report who was accountable for decisions leading up to the terror attack and murder of four americans. will they get any answers here? we'll try to find out.

gregg: the very first time we are hearing from the heads of the official state department review of what went wrong in benghazi. the house oversight committee taking testimony from ambassador tom pickerring and admiral mike mullen. lawmakers want to know who was responsible for policy decisions which led to weak security. they also want to know why the review board failed to conduct more thorough interviews, an assertion which admiral mullen flatly rejected. >> we received the full cooperation of all witnesses and in every state department office. we interviewed everyone we thought it was necessary to interview. we operated independently and we were given freedom to pursue the investigation as we deemed

necessary. gregg: jonah goldberg, join us, editor-at-large for nationalreview.online. isn't, or wasn't hillary clinton the top, accountable person at the department of state as secretary of state, and is it inex-flick ab, if not incompetent to fail to interview her? >> it might be inexplicable, it might be incompetent or it might be explicable and the explicable part might simply be they didn't want to ask her questions they didn't want answers to and, you know, i listened to the, i listen to the beginning of this hearing just now before i came on and it, there is just a smell test problem. they want to have it ever which way. they want to say the report is incredibly thorough and should put this thing to rest but they also want to reject any idea that it was wrong not to ininterview hillary clinton or her top aide to get to the bottom of this. even if, even if it was just to clear the air and in abundance

of caution, to have full transparency they should have talked to her. they want to say there was absolutely no way the military could get to benghazi in time. gregg: right. >> at the same time they don't want to address the fact that it is an outrage that the military wasn't ready to get there in time. it was 9/11. gregg: the deputy chief of the mission, gregory hicks, said he believes they could have been saved in the military had acted in a rescue session. 700 former special ops wrote a letter that basically said the same thing. we interviewed experts in that field, who said, yes, this attack went on for so many hours. it was easily possible to do a flyover and an attempt at a rescue or at least take out the enemy. so, yet, they just dismissed this, jonah? >> yeah. they were dismissive of the very idea. admiral mullen simply said, i looked at everything. there was no way to get assets there in time. and so my problem with that is twofold. one is, if there was no way to

get any assets to the middle east, right we're talking about north africa on 9/11, that is a scandal. that is outrageous that no one was ready to come rescue any american on 9/11, which is sort of a famous terrorist holiday. and secondly, they didn't know how long this fight was going to take. gregg: yeah. >> this could have gone on for weeks or at least days. there is no evidence that anybody scrambled anything, it would be one thing if they got there too late, but there was no evidence they even tried to get there, infamous standdown order, we haven't gotten to the bottom of that assuming it even happened. look, we still don't really know either where the president was in all of this. the latest information was his last contact with the secretary of defense was after 6:00 p.m., presumably he went to bed while americans were being slaughtered. it is not inconceivable that a president could be interviewed as well. i remember jerry ford was interviewed by congress over a controversial decision he made.

>> well, under iran-contra ronald reagan was interviewed. these things happened. gregg: yeah. >> george bush cooperated with the valerie plame investigation. it was a very strange thing that admiral mullen would not address at beginning darrell issa's and representative mica's questions, why is it that the congress of all institutions can't have access to the same witnesses that the arb did? if there is nothing to hide, why can't congress actually interview fact witnesses? gregg: jonah goldberg, thanks for being with us. good toe zoo you. >> great to be here. thank you. jenna: we'll run to capitol hill. fox news alert. congressman boehner there speaking about the republicans, their plan about whether or not they're going to defund obamacare. a vote for a continuing resolution. what does that mean about a government shutdown? big questions. speaker boehner says he does not want to shut down the government. he will take a question here. let's listen in. >> are you convinced ted kruses, and mike lees, are up for the battle next door. >> i will not speculate what the

senate will do or not do but the fight here has been won. the fight over there is just beginning. >> [inaudible] he said the fight, they have already said the fight's over here and hope house republicans will stand strong. what is your reaction to that? >> i expect my senate colleagues to do everything they can to defund this law just like the house is going to do. >> mr. speaker, if they don't do that, if they send it back to you -- >> i'm not going, ifs and and and buts all that nonsense. >> your members will allow to you go through with a vote with that stripped out or will you need the cooperation of leader pelosi? is it incumbent on -- >> i'm not going to speculate what the senate will or will not do. >> mr. speaker, do you expect to have that limited vote next week and what are the must-haves? >> we'll have conversation with our colleagues tomorrow morning about how we would proceed on the debt limit and after that conversation we'll probably have

more to say. >> chamber of commerce is saying house republicans don't do this, senate republicans are saying, almost universally don't do this, this is a losing strategy for republicans. >> to do what? to do what? >> is there any chance you will change your mind? >> to do what? >> tie the government to defunding obamacare? >> obamacare is driving up the cost of health care, it destroyed of millions of american jobs. it's a train wreck. it has to go. we've done everything humanly possible over the last two-and-a-half nears to make our point and we'll continue to make our point. >> senate republicans say they agree with that. they don't think this is the vehicle. they think republicans will get blamed. >> guess what. we're having a fight over here. we'll win the fight over there time for them to pick up the mantle and get the job done. >> speaker boehner recent interview with nbc news, president of iran said they would not news nuclear program for nuclear weapons ever. seemed to strike a moderate

tone. put to the question about the holocaust denial saying he is politician, not a historian. do you have any comments about the recent words of the president of iran? >> actions speak louder than words. and i think it is time for the iranians to take actions to show the world that they're not interested in producing nuclear weapons. >> on the debt limit, how do you expect these negotiations that you're calling for to proceed? you told your colleagues earlier in the year that you didn't want to go back to the, you know, the shuttling over to the white house -- >> i'm not doing that. i'm not doing that. >> so how do you want them to proceed? >> the house will pass a bill. it will be up to the senate to pass a bill. and i would guess the president would engage with the majority leader over there, if he so desires. john? >> mr. speaker, you said yesterday that the job of a leader is to listen, so who yesterday did you listen or the last few days, were you listening to and who do you think is running the republican

conference right now? >> listen, we've got a diverse caucus, frankly. so dot democrats, have a very diverse caucus. republicans by their very nature are a bit more independent than our colleagues across the aisle. i've seen that from the day i got here. and so, whenever we're trying to put together a plan, you know, we have 233 members, all of whom have their own plan. it is tough to get them on the same track. we got there. david? welcome. >> get around to doing the conference on the farm bill? >> as soon as we can. >> anything more specific? will you name, since cantor got nutrition title will you put him on the caucus? >> i love those editorial comments that kind of come along with the questions. >> [inaudible] >> after we pass a nutrition bill today, we'll send it over to the senate and, as i understand it the senate probably will have to reappoint

confereees, that, when they ask for a con for instance we'll appoint our conferees as well. the sooner the better. >> will you expand the conference to include people on agriculture? >> we'll see. >> thank you, mr. speaker. are you willing to violate the house rules to pass the cr? >> we expect to have the votes tomorrow to pass the cr. and we'll take it from there. >> -- vote, if it is needed? >> i will not speculate on what the senate will do, not do, where the votes are. way too early on that. jenna: speaker boehner with a lot of topics just now. let mee see if i can is sum it up. immediately ahead of speaker beiger is a funding bill that would keep the government even. it would prevent a government shutdown. wedded to the bill is defunding obamacare. there is big question whether or not that is wise for the republican party to do. what will happen to the bill in the senate and whether you have this ping-pong effect in the house and senate keeping

government funding open and operating and whether or not that will lead to a government shutdown because the senate will vote not to have government funding wedded to obamacare, defunding. does that make sense? i know it's a little bit confusing. there is the debt ceiling debate as well going on. speaker boehner has a lot of big issues ahead of him. and obviously a big battle between both houses of government and we'll get into that a little bit right after a quick break. wisest kid in the whole world?

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gregg: right now a growing threat of a government shutdown. the white house threatening to veto a gop-backed bill that would defund obamacare but keep the government running past the end of the month, essentially through december. now the house is planning to vote on the spending bill tomorrow. it's backed by republican senators marco rubio, ted cruz, mike lee. they say they will put up a strong fight for it in the senate.

angela mcglowan a fox news political analyst. i wonder if that is the wrong strategy and here's why? the key to the midterm elections is independents, and crossroads survey surveyed independents in a battleground states. here is what they found. 58% to 30%, let's put it on the screen, they oppose defunding obamacare if it risks even a temporary shutdown. as you know karl rove wrote about it in today's "wall street journal." he argues the republican strategy is self-defeating. isn't he right? >> he is exactly right. the house, with the midterm elections, with this vote tomorrow, i don't think that it will impact the house. i think your tea parties will be reelected and boehner will still remain in control. where the rub is, gregg, is in the senate. you have democrats defending 21 seats, republicans defending 14 seats and only need to swing six or seven seats to gain control. this could backfire from the

standpoint dealing with those independents in those states. gregg: yeah. >> people are tired of kabuki theater. people are tired of dysfunction in government. over 53% of the american people believe that obamacare is not the right type of health care. gregg: sure. >> but having said that they want members of congress and their president to work together to fix it. gregg: let me throw up one more graphic on the screen for you. again this is survey of independents in battleground states and look at this, by a march begin doctor margin of 57-35% they side with the president. when he argues it will be the gop to blame for a government shutdown. it doesn't just alienate president, it strengthens the president and democrats? >> that is the reason why obama is doing this and reason he held so strong on this. the joke among the conservatives in the beltway is the only red line the president is serious about drawing is he will not negotiate with house republicans. if we shut down the government,

liberals are ready with their talking points, advocacy and grassroots to go out there and blame republicans. gregg: right. >> this will only raise the president's numbers. gregg: you heard a moment ago, boehner, was very caustic, saying the senate, those guys have to do their job but look, that would require not only every single republican vote but at least 5 democrats there is no indication that any of those democrats would ever do that, would they? >> no. they're lock in step with their president, with our president. they're lock in step with the democratic caucus. house divided can not stand. gregg: yeah. >> the republicans are divided on this. this is self-defeating. the only way we can win, gregg, get out there and do what liberals do and grassroots and educate town hall meetings. why we need to shut down the government. gregg: you have two weeks left and it will not happen to do that. does look like republicans may snatch defeat from the jaws of victory once again. angela, thank you very much. by the way in the next hour we'll talk to the other side.

juan williams joins us to talk about this subject, what he thinks as well. angela, thanks. jenna: authorities are releasing some new information on the washington navy yard shooter. some details on the strange symbols investigators found on his weapons. we'll explain.

jenna: time now for our spotlight on small business. every we can we take a look at businesses and entrepreneurs who are thriving and surviving in today's economy. businesses along the new jersey shore have had a tough year. that is an understatement. we have superstorm sandy. we have a massive cleanup effort right now. a huge firebreaking out last week in the resort towns of seaside park and seaside heights, destroying hundreds of

businesses along the famous boardwalk. that is almost too much for us to take. we don't even own business there. danny is the own shore of the shore store. you might know the name of the famous reality mtv show. the "jersey shore." the kids worked at the shore store. danny is a strict boss as you watched program. danny, scary moments when the fire was burning. how is your business? >> i have to say my stomach was in knots watching it on tv. couldn't believe it was happening. phone calls were going anywhere. it looked like the way the wind was going it would burn the whole town to the ground. that would be our luck in seaside heights it would happen after massive build-back. fire department and chief of police were able to come up with an idea and god made the wind blow the other way and it kind of stopped for us on lincoln. it is a big thing. jenna: we're so glad. these two hits are big hits,

superstorm and the fire. how have you held up through all of this? >> honestly i don't know if i held up after the fire. i think that would have gone crazy. that would have been it for mee. i would have thrown in the towel. last year, seaside park didn't get damaged at all. we had to with stand the sandy part t didn't destroy all businesses like it did in the heights. they got lucky last year and got a terrible thing this year f it would have happened gone all the way down the whole boardwalk, i don't think everyone would be able to rebuild again. two times in 11 months? horrible. jenna: you had the business since 1998. >> yeah. jenna: like we said the reality show, mtv, we know you now. we have your website up on the screen as well. i'm just curious, what is the key to success? what is the key to keeping a business open for as many years as you have and so many different challenges? >> number one reality tv show in america helps out. that helped out a lot. but, just, you know, i love what i do. that is the big thing. i'm on the grind all the time. i'm there if you drop by my

store i'm usually inside there all day long. you have to be dedicated to what you do and be happy with what you're doing. i really like it. that makes it a lot easier. jenna: certainly inspiring. we're so glad that you weren't affected and our thoughts are with the entire community because again those, those are big obstacles. danny, we hope to be friends on this program now. reality tv thing. i could see our gregg jarrett in a "jersey shore" t-shirt of some sort. >> i love it. jenna: right? >> come into the store for a uniform. jenna: i think i like that idea. danany, thank you very much. we appreciate it. gregg: maybe something in a tank top, i'm thinking? jenna: without a doubt a tank top. gregg: don't want to go there. jenna: have to get a couple of tattoos. gregg: a couple of tats and earring. grow the ponytail back. jenna: chris the camera guy shaking his head. gregg: beard down to here. now you're talking. >> taking it two tore three -- gregg: that was my old look. a top republican claiming the state department is playing

politics when it comes to the deadly terrorism attack in benghazi. darrell issa says the civil fade the people in the compound last september 11th. we'll have a live report straight ahead. lots happening on "happening now." [ male announcer ] these days, a small business can save by sharing. like carpools... polly wants to know if we can pick her up. yeah, we can make room. yeah. [ male announcer ] ...office space. yes, we're loving this communal seating. it's great. [ male announcer ] the best thing to share? a data plan. at&t mobile share for business. one bucket of data for everyone on the plan, unlimited talk and text on smarthones. now, everyone's in the spirit of sharing. hey, can i borrow your boat this weekend? no. [ male announcer ] share more. save more. at&t mobile share for business. ♪ at&t mobile share for business. dad! dad! katy perry is coming to town. can we get tickets, tickets? hmm, sure. how many? well, there's hannah, maddie, jen, sara m., sara b., sa -- whoa, whoa. hold on. (under his breath) here it comes... we can't forget about your older sister! thank you, thank you, thank you!

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jenna: top of noon, right now back to business. workers returning to the washington navy yard just days after mass shooting killed 12 of their colleagues. we're live as investigators try to piece together the motive the gunman who also died that day. thousands of homes destroyed, many colorado residents have nowhere to go. the latest from the flood zone on the massive cleanup and recovery effort that is now underway. a young woman who became famous for her uncontrollable hiccups now on trial for first-degree murder. the latest developments about her alleged mental health issues. that's coming up.

we'll cover a lot of ground this hour. gregg: we will indeed. jenna: welcome to "happening now." great to have you. i'm jenna lee. gregg: i'm gregg jarrett in for jon scott. happening now on the hill, the benghazi review board under serious review. right now the lead investigators on the benghazi accountability review board are on the hot seat. they're answering tough questions about their investigation into the terror attack that left four americans dead including our ambassador there. whether they ever have had the independence to give an as sentiment to the administration's response to the attack its fair due. the chair of the oversight committee, congressman darrell issa. >> the arb structure along with the state department culture raises questions about the extent the to which it can be independent. although it's a meaningful document this committee has not been able to receive the

background information nor were there recorded notes sufficient to allow for a true review of the review. gregg: chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge is live from washington with more. hi, catherine. >> reporter: well, thank you, gregg. we're in the second hour of the hearing and one of the headlines is that the state department investigation was operational in focus. it was not focused on who set the policy to be in benghazi with that substandard security. there is agreement this morning that responsibility for security did go as high as undersecretary patrick kennedy who was in charge of u.s. embassies worldwide. kennedy so far escaped blame. the republican chairman of the committee now taking legal action to access state department employees on the ground in benghazi that day. >> i am in the process of issuing subpoenas because the state department has not made those people available has played hide and go seek and is now hiding behind a thinly-veiled statement that there is a criminal investigation. jenna: as to -- >> reporter: as to why mrs.

clinton was not interviewed as part of this investigation, the arb cochairs explained they began with lower level employees and worked their way up, deciding before they reached senior levels of the state department who was to blame. >> we talked to both mr. burns and mr. need december, both deputy secretaries of state. by the time we got to them as it was with secretary clinton we had very clear evidence, full and complete to our information that the authority, responsibility, the accountability, rested with the people we identified. >> reporter: the ranking member of the committee, democrat elijah cummings issuing his own report on benghazi today. >> this benghazi review was one of the most comprehensive arb reviews ever conducted. i have seen no evidence, none whatsoever. to support these reckless accusations.

>> reporter: in the last few minutes what appears to be a pretty significant development, the co-chair of the state department investigation, admiral mike mullen, testifying that he did give then secretary of state clinton's chief of staff cheryl mills a heads up last october that the head of diplomatic security would be a bad witness for the state department at a congressional hearing last october. this was seven days after the investigation began. republicans say this is evidence of the clubby nature of the investigation, that it was not hard-hitting and not independent. mullen's partner in that investigation, ambassador pickerring counters, this notification process was required as sort appeared dick update. you can decide whether that really makes a lot of sense. gregg: tipoff of a bad witness questions mullen's objectivity in all this. >> reporter: interesting enough in front of the same committee they're appearing in front of today and the timeline is very, suspicious i would say. gregg: yeah. >> reporter: because the accountability review board

began october 3rd. this witness appeared october of this. this was just seven days. usually witnesses are not public. this was a short timeline for that apparent notification. gregg: catherine herridge thank you very much. >> reporter: you're welcome. jenna: we'll be revisiting the story throughout the hour. we'll return to what is happening in the washington navy yard. it is opening today, three days after the shooting rampage that killed 12 people. meantime police releasing new information on gunman aaron alexis who they say was carrying a weapon with some strange markings. begs more questions here. steve centanni is live from the washington navy yard in d.c. with more. steve, what are they talking about, these strange markings? >> reporter: yeah, jenna, very mysterious. authorities are frankly puzzled by this as you know aaron alexis bought a saud off shot gun saturday a few days before the attack in northern virginia, not far from where i'm standing. bought a winchester shotgun with

a wooden stock, somebody had carved, better this way and my a e.l.f. authorities don't know the significance of either of those indescriptions in the wooden stock of the shotgun used to carry out these crimes. we're hearing from the veterans administration on the record of aaron alexis as he visited emergency rooms in va hospitals. first on august 23rd in providence, rhode island. august 23rd of this year he complained insomnia. he couldn't get to sleep. they prescribe ad small amount of medication. a few days later on august 28th, in washington, d.c. he went to the for a refill of that vision. he said insomnia was due to his work schedule. va put out this statement on both occasions mr. alexis was alert and or river ended and was asked by va doctors if he was struggling with anxiety or depression or had thoughts of about harming himself which he denied. none of the visits related to mental illness per se and he never saw a psychiatrist with

the veterans administration, earlier, earlier in august, in rhode island, police say in a hotel room he did call them saying he was hearing voices through the floor, through the walls, through the ceiling and somebody was targeted him with a microwave machine that could be some indication of mental instability, jenna. jenna: steve, we can see the police car over your shoulder there. i'm wondering how is the first day back for some of these employees? >> reporter: well the employees are very apprehensive. somber day here at the washington navy yard. as far as entry on to the base, nothing has really changed except there is a beefed up security presence. there are more officers at the gate, more officers on of the ground but nothing exactly has changed in terms of presenting your passes. no magnetometers, that kind of thing. the building where the shooting occurred is not open. employees are not going in there. it is still a crime scene. the fbi commandeered the gym as their command headquarters as they go about their business trying to find out, especially a motive why this happened.

jenna? jenna: still a big question out there, steve, thank you. gregg: monday's mass shooting sparking new calls for a public hearing into security clearances. three democrats sending a letter to congressman darrell issa, of course the chairman of the oversight and government reform committee you saw moments ago. they're asking for a close examination of current background check procedures for clearances and lessons learned from the shooting that can be applied to all federal facilities. jenna: switch up some of the news now. senator john mccain is proving two can play the op-ed game. the arizona republican and staunch advocate of a strike on syria blasting vladmir putin in an op-ed on a russian website a week after the russian president took america to task in an op-ed in "the new york times" where putin questioned american exceptionalism. mccain accusing the russian leader of alining himself with tyrants and saying quote, i am pro-russian, more pre-russian than the regime that rules you

today. president putin rules by corruption, repression and violence. he rules for himself. not you. gregg: hmmm. speaking of putin, making headlines once again today on syria. the russian president saying that moscow has strong ground to believe that last month chemical attacks was quote, a provocation by the rebels or as assad said last night on fox news, the terrorists. and earlier when it comes to the plan of getting rid of syria's chemical weapons putin says, he can't be 100% sure that the syrian government will comply with that agreement. jenna: who will write the next editorial? i guess that is what it all comes down to. receding floodwaters in colorado revealing even more devastation today. you have toppled homes, buckled highways and twisted debris. you can see that in a lot of the pictures we're showing you on the screen. rescue efforts are winding down as crews start focusing on cleanup and recovery.

at least six people are dead, hundreds more still unaccounted for. there is a lot of disorganization at this time. tough to get in touch with people. alicia acuna is in boulder in a hard-hit area of long month, colorado. alicia? >> reporter: look at this driveway here. we talked to owner's son, travis. this is a home three years ago they built for his mother after her husband died. it was her dream home. now everything that was in her basement is now here on the front lawn and in the driveway. most of it is memories. he was showing us some of these pictures. this is travis right hire, when he was a baby. if you look over here, you have three generations of photographs and mem byes. they have the christmas decorations, halloween decorationses. everything was in the basement. i talked to the restoration company helping clear everything out right now. right now it is inhabitable in there because the smell is so bad and so toxic and mud and

chemicals through the floodwaters. they're finding fish this big of inside of the homes as they try to clean these out. this is one home of 19,000 homes that were either damaged or destroyed throughout northern colorado. as you mention the cleanup underway and the restoration company owner says he doesn't know how they're going to manage to do this as it is needed because the need is so great in comparison to the companies that are available to take care of it. so, that's the situation here right now as they try to take care of the $2 billion worth of damage that has hit, has hit colorado. jenna? jenna: alicia acuna, live in colorado. we'll continue to watch this story. alicia, thank you. gregg: there are new developments on that new york city skyscraper with alleged ties to iran. a judge now deciding the building's fate. more than one year after four americans lost their lives in libya, no arrests, no firings and a house committee today questioning lead investigators

in the benghazi attack but why are there still so many unanswered questions about this? we're going to talk to the attorney representing some of the a benghazi whistle-blowers next. >> four employees of the state department were relieved of their senior positions assistant secretaries or deputy assistant secretaries of state and are no longer holding those senior positions. i submit respectfully, mr. chairman, that accountability includes being relieved from your job and assigned to other positions. to mee, that is serious accountability. >> the reassignment, no one missed a paycheck, all right? no one. (announcer) scottrade knows our clients trade and invest their own way. with scottrade's smart text, i can quickly understand my charts, and spend more time trading.

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gregg: welcome back. here's a look at some consumer headlines making news this hour. the number of people seeking

unemployment benefits rose slightly to 309,000 last week but economists say those figures may be distort ad bit because of computer issues in two states. time warner, the owner and founder of tai, the company set made beanie-babies because of tax evision. he squirreled away millions of dollars in a secret swiss bank account. hitting the like feature on facebook is protected free speech according to federal court of appeals. the case involved a former deputy sheriff who said he was fired from his job after liking his former boss's political opponent. jenna: tense conversation on capitol hill. several different tense conversations after month of delays the house committee finally getting a chance to people who republicans say gave top state department official as pass on the deadly terror attack in benghazi.

>> show us where the benghazi survivors are since access to them are very difficult? >> one benghazi survivor is, was seriously injured in the second attack and is still, is still in the hospital. the other four have resumed duties around the world. jenna: victoria tensing, is the attorney representing benghazi whistle-blower gregory hicks. victoria, nice too have you on the program. >> good to be here, jenna. jenna: how is mr. hicks? where is he? >> he is still at the state department. that's, that is all i'm going to say. we're working on getting him to be in the right place. we're working on that. jenna: what is communication between him and some survivors in benghazi, the folks he worked with on the ground? >> well nobody can really talk to the survivors. they're keeping them at some other place. but i'd like to comment a little bit, because earlier in the show i think gregg asked why, why are there so many unanswered

questions? let me tell you why. the format of the usual congressional hearing is so, it's not a very good place to get real questions because each member only gets five minutes. jenna: sure. >> just as soon as somebody good gets going, the time is up. so good witnesses, good witnesses know how to stall out when there is somebody good. jenna: we've taken a lost these hearings live. this is the third one today of the oversight committee focusing on benghazi. yesterday foreign affairs committee, their fourth. as far as other hearings dealing with benghazi there has been more than a dozen between the house and senate. do you think, is it your opinion that these hearings as far as finding answers to the questions that are out there, are they useless? >> well, i think they're a little bit like trying to grab ahold of jell-o. let me just take one point because i heard pickerring talk about, well, we do, we did our investigation just like the fbi. oh, my goodness, no.

an fbi agent just taking notes would have to go to the witness and say, do you adapt these notes in order for them to be used in any kind of hearing? they didn't do that. my client, gregory hicks, couldn't review his notes to this day. they couldn't even give the witnesses a draft. they gave it to hillary clinton, a draft of the report, but not to the witnesses. jenna: so, victoria there is a lot of calls for an independent review board. so this review board came up. now there is criticism from republicans. you also criticized the report. what is the next step? what is within your power? someone even outside of congress and outside of these hearings what do you want and how do you get it? >> it will really be up to the media. there are very few media sources that are really staying on top of this story as fox is. some of the stories are getting spiked because some major networks don't want to air it. they don't think it is an issue

but it's a very important issue. not just the decisions about security beforehand and don't tell mee that hillary clinton and kennedy didn't know what the decisions were about security there beforehand. but why was the whole evening covered up? where was the president? why do we not know where the president is? until the media really starts going out there and asking the questions, nobody is going to feel the pressure. jenna: ultimate goal for you and for your client, victoria, what is that going to look like? >> well the ultimate goal for my client is to get in a position he deserves. he has been kept in a cubicle for the last year with no assignments. very -- jenna: are you looking for monetary compensation? >> no. jenna: just reassignment to his proper place? >> yes. and he wants the right thing to be done for who he calls the four people who were killed all heroes. jenna: i only have about 30 seconds here but how is he being treated when he goes into work on a regular day? what is his experience like?

>> i'm not going to get into that right now. i think the most important thing what is happening up on the hill and are they able to get their answers and i'm telling you these witnesses are jiving around and avoiding answering questions. as i just pointed out about the fbi. jenna: victoria, great to have you on the program. thank you. gregg: well the push to defund obamacare that could trigger a government shutdown 12 days from now. the votes house republicans would need to pass it. plus a group of some 300 teenagers trashed his home. then they had the audacity to post it online bragging about it? how a former nfl player is reacting to that and the message he wants to send to the kids responsible.

jenna: very interesting news out of new york city. the u.s. government is taking control of a new york city skyscraper. why? well apparently it has ties to iran. a federal prosecutor claims the property owner used rental income to help fund the iranian government. a judge determined the building owned by an iranian bank and shell company was in fact funneling that money to tehran. remember, iran is a state sponsor of terror according to our state department. the u.s. plans to use the money from the seizure to compensate victims of iranian sponsored terrorism. we're working on more details on that and we'll bring them to you shortly. gregg: a major showdown is brewing in washington as the white house threatens to veto a spending bill that could keep the government running, but there would be condition attached defunding obamacare. let's bring in juan williams, a fox news political analyst. is this unwise strategy by the gop? in the last hour we put data on the screen that showed independents in the key

battleground states coming up in the midterm elections, they don't like obamacare but they do knot want but a large margin the government to get shut down and they seem to side with the president's argument that the gop would be to blame. is this an ill conceived strategy by republicans? >> well, just by the statistics that you just cited, gregg, i think like 58, almost 60%, two third of independents oppose this idea. you need independents if you want to win elections. if you want to win in 2014 or even looking towards the next presidential race in 2016 you can't alienate the voters. this is a move that will not only alienate independents but large numbers of democrats and even republicans who don't like it. "the wall street journal" editorial page has said this is a kamikaze venture a suicidal mission. gregg: right. >> karl rove said these folks are on the wrong track. gregg: right. >> karl is definitely a republican. gregg: sure.

>> you have people who on the democratic side, harry reid, the majority leader in the senate, who says basically, a bunch of anarchists taken control and have, you know, taken speaker boehner under their wings and made it so that speaker boehner can't even lead his troops. gregg: yet, you know two very smart guys, ted cruz, mike lee, both republican senators on "hannity" last night. here is lee's argument. take a listen. >> okay. >> what i'm saying is that we ought to fund every other priority in government. ted and i and others are willing to fund even programs that we don't like as a compromise gesture in order to avoid having to fund obamacare and as a condition, for making it possible to defund obamacare and thereby achieve a delay. that's what we want. gregg: so we'll fund everything, everything, even stuff we don't like, but just defund obamacare? i mean, if the republicans can use the next couple of weeks to elevate that argument, juan, does that change the political dynamic? >> not at all because again, the

harsh reality is, they don't have the votes in the senate. i mean they would need five votes in the senate, gregg. they don't have one vote in the senate. they would need the president of the united states to say, oh, my gosh, you know, i'm changing my mind and i'm growing to go along and i will grant this delay. there is just nothing like that in the cards. so, what you have is people who are stuck on an idealogical point but threatening the economic recovery, threatening government shutdown, government services, if we look back historically, as a matter of politics, this just doesn't work for the republican as a successful strategy. gregg: didn't work in '95. betting money certainly will not work then. they had appropriations bills that funded government then but not now. it could be catastrophic. you look at polling data, juan, americans do favor delaying the individual mandate but not defunding which republicans claim is a method by which you

delay. i sometimes wonder if it's a matter of semantics but you have to go with public opinion. >> well, no, you don't. i mean clearly there are people on the republican side and i would say this is especially true of a lot of the funders, people who are behind the tea party movement, people who are, do mail, fund-raising by mail operations and the like, they are clearly opposed not only to delaying, they're not only in support of delaying, greg, they want to defund obamacare all together. gregg: right. >> they see it as a powerful driver for the far right right now. there is no question there is a base that is just crazy in opposition to obamacare. gregg: you know the senate will amend it and kick it back to the house and there will be a standoff. if the time runs out, there is the government shutdown the question who gets the blame. >> right. gregg: juan williams. good to see you, juan, thanks. >> thank you, gregg. jenna: that would mean long hours for us. gregg: oh, yes. jenna: everyone has their own

personal stakes in this fight. another big issue on the hill, house republicans are pushing for big cuts in the food stamp program. the price has doubled since the great recession. will they find support they need to trim the costs? what do you do when so many people are taking and accepting food stamps. we're live with that story. unexpected twist in a murder trial of a florida woman who became famous for having hiccups, she couldn't stop, they say it could be a factor in her case. gregg, are you going to get the hiccups doing this story. gregg: i get them often but not like that. jenna: why they are focusing on her mental health and how that plays in, hiccups and all next ♪

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♪ ♪ jenna: "happening now" in washington, d.c., a very busy day in the house of representatives. on the floor today, a vote that could cut the food stamp program by $40 billion over the next ten years. republicans outraged, saying too many americans depend on the assistance. the program's cost has more than doubled since the great recession, but the economy's been bad, so that's one of the reasons why we have a lot of folks on it. doug mckelway with more on the dynamics of this story. >> reporter: yeah, jenna. the plan that the house is expected to take a vote today on is profoundly controversial, and republicans are sure to come under major attack from democrats who say the gop's proposed cuts as a heartless

attack on a sack to sapt program. >> it's true, the bill being considered in the house of representatives today would save $40 billion. but how would it save that $40 billion? by snatching food out of the hands of millions of neediest children and their families. >> reporter: but would it really? the food stamp program, or snap for supplemental nutrition assistance program, has expanded exponentially since president obama took office, 52% more households on food stamps as of last june than on average in the first year of the presidency. today there are 23 million american households on the snap program, that's more than the entire population of new england now at over 20 million. the system is easily abused. earlier this month fox's john roberts profiled snap user jason gleanslate of california, a self-described unemployed sufficient r surfer dude who gets $200 a month in food stamps

and who has no intention of finding a job. >> thank you, taxpayers. thanks. >> reporter: do you feel guilty at all about this? >> [bleep] no. >> reporter: there had previously been a work requirement provision in the snap program, but that was waived in the early years of the obama administration. the senate has already passed snap funding as part of the overall agriculture bill. its version only cuts $4 billion, so we're looking at a tenfold difference in cuts between the two house versions, a difficult task for the conferees to iron out should the house version pass today as expected. jenna? jenna: a big story. an important one. gregg used to be one of those surfer dudes out in california, so he gets nervous when we run that sound bite. [laughter] he doesn't want to misrepresent all surfers everywhere -- >> reporter: yeah, but he's not on the snap program. gregg: i earned the food i ate. he eats, he feasts on sushi and

lobster courtesy of american taxpayers. jenna: in california, what can you say? doug, thank you very much. gregg: "happening now," the first-degree murder trial of the so-called hiccup girl underway after an unexpected delay right before legal proceedings set to begin. her attorneys claimed she was schizophrenic. the judge ordered a psychiatric evaluation, and mead was found competent to stand trial, so the trial proceeded. rebecca rose woodland, a trial attorney. so, essentially, the charges here is that she lured the victim to a home where two accomplices killed him during a robbery gone wrong. but, tom, the defense here is very unique. what is it? >> it's very you week because it's very difficult -- unique because it's very difficult. this is basically known as felony murder, the idea that if you're involved in committing a felony, any felony, and death is caused to a victim regardless of whether it was intentional or

accidental, you're guilty for that murder. florida has codified that law and made it a part of their first-degree murder statute. so it's a hard case in general to defend. gregg: but -- >> but in this case the defense is saying, look, our client may have had a thought to commit a crime against this victim, but the crime in which the victim died was not the crime our client had hatched. namely, she had intended perhaps to rob this guy in a drug deal gone bad, he died in a separate prostitutioning deal gone bad. gregg: so if you can disprove the robbery theory for the killing, you disprove the charges. it's pretty unique. now, the other thing, rebecca is, look, she was known as the hiccup girl. she suffered tourette's syndrome, iq difficulties, also been diagnoseed as schizophrenic. doesn't look like they're going to claim insanity, but rather sort of a diminished capacity which could reduce the charges and the punishment, right?

>> exactly. what they're looking here to do is look for mitigating circumstances with respect to the sentencing if there is some and also with respect to the crime. they're addressing, first off, that she didn't fully admit that she hatched the plan. they're saying now there might be a possibility of a fourth girl that was not charged who had gone in and done, had some prostitution aspect of the case prior to the last three, one of whom is mee who you see here getting involved in what ended up being a murder, and, of course nfl is the felony murder, first degree. her defense is, first, that there was someone else involved that the police did not charge. second, even in these charges she has diminished capacity. her iq is very low, and she is not able to understand truthfully and fully what she is doing and what she has done. gregg: and it tends to negate the necessary element of intent. >> yes. gregg: but look, tom, part of

the problem when it comes to intent is she gave an alleged confession. now, the defense is trying to knock that out, aren't they? >> yeah. and let's be clear, gregging, i mean, the only -- the issue of intent in this case is limited to the underlying felony. gregg: right. >> in other words, did she intentionally intend to rob the victim. if you get past that, the thing that's tricky about felony murder, felony murder doesn't require intent. in other words, the victim could have died accidentally, he could have had a trip and fall and fractured his skull and died without any intent on the part of any of the perpetrators. that's why i believe the defense -- gregg: what about the confession, tom? >> well, look, any confession has to be knowingly and voluntarily made. so if they can get at the fact that she has diminished mental capacity, maybe you can give the jury a basis to doubt the confession. but again, a lot of that would have been had to have been taken up during pretrial hearing.

gregg: what about the other thing? the defense is going to try to portray the accomplices as the real criminals here, she was an innocent pawn. what about the factor, rebecca, of sympathy for this young woman? >> i think there's going to be a lot of sympathy for her. first of all, she didn't pull the trigger. there were two other people allegedly at the scene with the victim. again, the defense is saying there was a fourth person involved that the police never even charged, so that also can go to reasonable doubt with the jury and the sympathy factor of why did you charge this girl who has tourette's and diminished iq, diminished mental capacity when she didn't pull the trigger? and they are going to try to withdraw and try to have those admissions -- supposedly they're admissions -- we haven't seen them yet what they fully are. we don't know. there's going to be a lot of arguing in that courtroom whether or not, you know, what she has said were full admissions and whether she can even understand what she said.

gregg: rebecca, tom, good to see you both. thank you. >> good to see you, gregg. jenna: we're going to talk about i how you can take action before the flu season strikes, how do you know if what's ailing you is a virus or a bacterial infection? it's important because it depends on how you're going to be treated. a new test that determines whether antibiotics can help you when you're sick. and taking a street-view camera to a sandy beach. what's this all aboutsome we'll explain.

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i'm here to get the lady of the house back on her feet. [ all gasp ] oj, veggies you're cool. mayo? corn dogs? you are so outta here! aah! 'cause i'm re-workin' the menu, keeping her healthy and you on your toes. [ female announcer ] the complete balanced nutrition of great-tasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and 9 grams of protein. i see you, cupcake! uh-oh! [ bottle ] the number one doctor recommended brand. ensure®. nutrition in charge™. gregg: welcome back. well, out there somewhere an incredibly lucky person is walking around with a lottery ticket worth, essentially, $400 million. it was sold in lexington, south carolina. if the winner goes for the cash option, they'll take home $230 million. finish that's after taxes. for anybody who didn't watch the drawing, here are the winning

numbers -- 7, 10, 22, 32, 35, and the powerball is 19. jenna: well, it's that time of year again. we're all in it together. cold weather's coming, the days are getting shorter, and 'tis the season for aches and pains and coughs and sore throats as well. how do you know if it's an allergy, a bacterial infection like strep throat or a virus like the flu? sometimes the symptoms are very similar, as you know, and there's a new test that, apparently, could potentially help your doctor determine what's ailing you. dr. kevin campbell is assistant professor of medicine at the university of north carolina. so a new test, doctor, from duke university. researchers are working on a blood test. what would it tell us? >> well, it's very interesting. this new test actually analyzes whether your body has started to fight a virus. there is a genetic footprint that occurs when your body makes the immune system start to fight

a virus. and if we see that, it is indicative of a viral infection as opposed to a bacterial one which is really, really important. jenna: and how would that change the way you would treat someone when you find out, oh, they have a viral infection versus a bacterial or allergy? >> abilities block the way the cells in the bacteria make food, reproduce, the structure of the cell. they have no effect on viruses. so if you treat a viral infection with an antibiotic, essentially, you're not doing anything to stop it. and, in fact, you may be creating antibiotic resistance which is huge in the u.s. today. jenna: and we just got that report from the cdc saying antibiotics are overprescribinged, we're developing these superbugs and that in and of itself is a health risk. this blood test that actually reads what your genes are doing, what could of turn around would you get on that? would they be able to tell

within a couple of hours? how long would it actually take? >> unfortunately, it's still almost a 12-18 hour turn around. my colleagues at duke university developed this protocol, and, you know, the hope is that we make a rapid office screening test that you can, you know, do like a quick strep test that we do now in doctors' offices. and if that happens, then we can really make a huge difference in screening large populations and in making sure we treat the right patients with antibiotics. jenna: how about a little news we can use, doc, on that? when we start waking up in the morning with a little scratch in our throat, is there any tell-taling signs about what you would feel if you had a virus versus a bacteria infiltrating your body? >> you know, that is a really, really tough problem. as physicians, the presents symptoms in the beginning are very similar. it's hard to sort out whether it's a bacteria or virus. you know, some historical data, you know, have you been exposed to someone who has strep throat,

or is there a flu bug going around the daycare, those are the kinds of things that really help us. you have to put your sherlock holmes cap on and take a quick look with a magnifying glass to figure this out. jenna: how are you feeling today, doc, you don't have a sore throat, do can -- do you? >> i do not. remember, it's international speak like a pirate day, so instead of saying ah, you may have to say argh. jenna: doc, you delivered in multiple ways today. [laughter] dr. campbell, always great having you on the program. thank you. >> thanks so much. jenna: we're going to have to fact check dr. campbell, although he's a reliable source. gregg: i find that one hard to believe. jenna: the control room's confirming it for us. we have wasted nearly two hours. gregg: our producer would know something like that, on secure and strange. can't get to america's best beaches or even the grand canyon? soon you can have your computer

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gregg: well, imagine a real beach front view right on your own computer screen. the sunshine state is partnering with google to do precisely that. they're creating panoramic views like this one showing 825 miles of florida's beautiful beaches for everybody to see. and guess what? phil keating, who is never on a beach, is life from veer row beach, florida. i'm trying to be facetious. in are -- >> reporter: gregg, the sand in florida, more beach than any other state in the country, brings in about $70 billion a year. this partnership between google

and the state's visit florida tourism bureau is a win/win. number one, google will verge wily map the entire planet digitally and, number two, for the state it's unbeatable marketing. just when you thought you've seen it all on the beach, there comes the globe, bobbing through the sunbathers, digitally recording everything forever. >> batteries, hard drive, it's got a modem up here, push, play, stop, pause, we're ready to go. >> oh, yes, it's pristine trekking. >> reporter: how's this working out for you? >> i'm loving it. every single day is a new adventure. >> reporter: these men are google trekkers. they pound the sand step by step wearing a 40-pound backpack with google hardware shooting every angle of the beach. >> feel like magellan, lewis and clark. you know, just mapping it out is a once in a lifetime thing. once this is mapped, it's mapped. >> reporter: google and florida's tourism division

paired up to map all 800 miles of beach. it takes google map's streetview concept which allows you to see every building from multiple angles to the shoreline where cars can't go, but trekkers can. taking 10,000 panoramic pics a day. google trekkers are also mapping the grand canyon, the top of the largest building in the world and japan's mown fuji. -- mount fuji. >> reporter: $30 an hour to walk the state's coastline. you could have a nearly 'em by beach like this one or a very crowded one like south beach where they will end in november. they've already dope more than 400 miles, and from beginning to end of this project, the trekkers will have taken 2,062,500 steps, gregg. gregg: wow. there's your day's exercise. phil keating live on the beach. phil, thanks very much. jenna: very cool story. i love that. gregg: you've got to be in great

shape. 40 pounds on your buck? -and-a-half ma and $30? not bad. can you walk and talk at the same time says the news anchor who's sitting down? [laughter] probably not, according to new research. who is most at risk for cell phone-related injuries? that's next. this is a map of the pressure points on my feet. i have flat feet. i learned where the stress was at the dr.scholl's foot mapping center. then i got my number, which matched the custom fit orthotic inserts with the right support. find your closest foot mapping center at drscholls.com. i'm a believer.

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