william petit finally came face to face this week with stephen hayes, one of the two men accused of killing his wife and two daughters in a brutal 2007 home invasion. >> mostly focused on the questions that i was being asked. just try to do the best i could for my family. >> reporter: in court, petit endured the 911 call made by a teller in this bank where his wife jennifer, seen here on the surveillance video, was taken by her attackers. >> we have a lady who is in our bank right now who says that her husband and children are being held at their house. the people are in a car outside the bank. she is getting $15,000 to bring out to them. if the police are told they will kill the children and the husband. they have their faces covered. she is petrified. they told her they wouldn't hurt anybody if she got back there with the money. she believes them. i think she's walking out now. >> reporter: she walked into the ultimate nightmare. hayes and his accomplice took her home where she was sexually assaulted. her two children were tied to their beds. her husband was tied to a pole in the basement

evidence is really overwhelming against this particular defendant, stephen hayes. we heard the final testimony from the fire investigator, and he just got off the witness stand, actually. the lawyers are back in the courtroom, and we believe that the defense may present some evidence. brief evidence. in defense of mr. hayes, but i will say the burden is always on the prosecution, drew, to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. everyone watching the trial i have been in new haven, connecticut, watching the trial will tell you the evidence against this defendant is overwhelming. >> you said there may be some kind of defense presented. do you have any knowledge of what that defense, what the tactic will be? >> we are -- i'm sure at this point, the judge presiding over this case just indicate add few moments ago that the defense will be presenting some evidence. it may be brief evidence, and so we're unclear yet as to which witnesses they will be presenting, but we do know that they will be presenting some sort of case in his defense. >> i've talked to so many peo

stephen hayes and joshua komisarjevsky, who's awaiting trial, could get the death penalty.> tropical storm carl is back into t of his carl blew across mexico's yucatan peninsula yesterday, dumping heavy rains on the region's tourist reso the storm is expected to gain strength and slam back into kenength and slam back into meanwhile, hurricanes igor and julia continue to churn out there in the atlantic. igor is now a cat 4 storm and could hit bermuda directly this weekend. igor's strong winds and potentially dangerous surf should hit the east coast tomorrow. hurricane julia is a category 3 storm but does not at this point threaten land anywhere. >> back to back right now when you look at that weather map. >> this is the height of the season. >> it really is. now he's the rest of your forecase c in nashvill torna are poso clori thunderstorms in west texas and. >> 70 in seattle. 83 in salt lake city. 91 in albuquerque. kansas city will see about 73 degrees. indianapolis 79. 90 in new orleans. 85 in washington, d.c. 70 in beantown. >>> in southern california it is that time of

stephen hayes, senior writer for "weekly standard." mort kondracke, from roll call. and syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. steve, what jumps out at you from reading the pledge to america? >> the fact it's specific and lengthy. almost say it's exhaustive. in a way it's bold and aggressive. look, i take a backseat to no one with my cynicism about these things. in a sense, political gimmick and it will help republicans get elected. i get that. so was the contract with america. if you look back at the contract, even five or six years after the contract was passed, 95 of the programs either scrutinized or eliminated increased in the budget by 10 or 15%. reasons to be skeptical. promises coming out of washington. having said that, this is an impressive document. it is specific about spending levels. turning back tarp, returning to prestimulus levels. repealing healthcare. there are a lot of specifics in here. i think a lot of things for people to like. >> bret: mort, the plan will be rolled out tomorrow. at a hardware store in suburban virginia, as the g.o.p. leader

stephen hayes, writer for "weekly standard."ick klein, political reporter for abc news and syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. steve, two come can meeting events today. one in a hardware store in virginia. and one of the west steps of the capitol where the democratic leaders move the small business bill forward. >> it's an interesting contrast. it's clear in campaign mode here. i think what republicans did worked. it was smart for john boehner and eric canter to step back and let others make the argument, to the extent it triples down to the american voters, which is questionable. it's a good thing to do. the pledge overall is a smart thing to do. it's a good program. bold and aggressive. it doesn't answer all of the questions. of course, what happens on november 3 in some respects in governing is more important than what happens on november 2. it's a campaign document. they are doing it to campaign on something. what it does practically in political terms is it takes away one of two democratic arguments. democrats spent s

stephen hayes, senior writer for "weekly standard." judith miller from the "manhattan institute."cated columnist charles krauthammer. charles? >> if that is what you get when a group of hand-pick ed members of an audience, imagine what you would have got with a random selection of audience that would have been more raucous. it clearly is not something that helped him. i was struck by the fact nothing new came out of it. but one statement is classic obama that reappears over and over again. he says my challenge is i'm thinking about the next generation, and there were a lot of folks out there who are thinking about the next election. this is the trophy he uses all the time. "the folks out there" the republicans, only about power, winning election and all that. i, the father of our nation, stand above all this and act only in the national interest looking at the next election. what is so great about it, it's so obviously false. he would haven't been in the meeting in the instance in the first place if he weren't election nearing. he knows the polls are showing that people have a sen

stephen hayes from "the weekly standard." a.b. stoddard of the hill.yndicated columnist charles krauthammer. we have to point out at the start, mcdonald's denies the story and denies it has decided to do anything, but there is, steve, clearly a new requirement in the new healthcare reform law world we're going to be living in that companies are worried about. i would seem to me that the possibility that a company like mcdonald's would have to drop 30,000 workers is damaging. >> mcdonald's was backtracking because it probably didn't expect the memo to go public. the memo, itself, did suggest that mcdonald's might. take language verbatim of the it would be economically prohibitive for our carriers to continue offering the mini med plans and talk in places that it would deny coverage to 29,500 existing mcdonald's employees. i think the reporting was correct. now whether that means that mcdonald's overstated it to make its case to regulators to try to say you don't want to face a story where 30,000 people are without health insurance, but that is clearly w

bill: and stephen hayes, senior writer for "the weekly standard" and a fox news contributor.started in washington, what do you make of karl rove suggesting now that the republicans have no shot at taking back the senate because of what happened in delaware? >> well, i think he's right. i mean, i think the concern going in was that christine o'donnell was less likely to be elected than mike castle and i think it was a practical consideration. the problem with christine o'donnell, i think is that, you know, there are lots of conservatives who agree with her on issue after issue after issue. but there's a clear record of distortions and answers she has given with problematic financial issues she has had in her past that will be fodder for democrats in the final 7 weeks of the campaign. which virtually would assure the democrat will be elected. bill: she has been asked about the question and listening to several interviews already this morning she said the issue about a foreclosed house and an issue with the irs was cleared up within a day. she said it was a misunderstanding. and

stephen hayes, that's whose trial is going on now, and joshua.owed the family home from the local supermarket, they drove jennifer to the bank telling her if she withdrew $15,000, no one in her family would be hurt. she got them the money, she told the bank teller what was going on. we played part of that 911 call from the bank yesterday. the defense is trying to keep stephen hayes from getting the death penalty by attacking the police for taking too long to respond after that initial 9 is 11 call -- 911 call, and arguing that the other defendant was the real mastermind behind this plot. both of these men are eligible for the death penalty if they're convicted. we'll have more a little later on. jon: oh, rick, thanks very much. jenna: well, a new call for the president and congress to keep the money flowing. some 300 economists along with civil and labor leaders are warning if we don't keep spending, we risk not being able to save our economy and create new jobs. co-directer of the campaign for america's future and a co-author of in the report, "

evidence, does this seem like a fairly easy conviction or are there difficulties particularly because stephen hayesthere are some questions as to whether his attempted suicide may have made him cognitively incapable of carrying out this trial. >> i hate to ever say a case is a slam-dunk. as a former prosecutor i know that is never the case. in this particular case, i think the evidence is very overwhelming. i've been following it very closely, as much of america is, because it really strikes at one's heart. this is a home invasion. someone invade the sanctity of someone's home. the fact he has been found able to stand trial, competent to stand trial and has been ill, this defendant, during the trial doesn't mean this is not going to end, i think, in a guilty conviction. >> would it be too late for his attorneys to say let's pursue an insanity plea in is it too late for them to change his plea? >> it is. the insanity defense is off the table. however, they did want a plea deal here. they wanted to plead guilty to this horrific series of crimes in return for the prosecution taking the death penalty o

stephen hayes, senior writer for "weekly standard." henderson from the washington post.ed columnist, charles krauthammer. start with the governor's race in california. steve? >> i thought meg whitman answered the charges pretty decisively and offered to put it back, in fact i think the campaign put out the documents so they have the copy of the 1099. gloria allred didn't introduce much. she had promises and said she could produce evidence and never did it. nicky diaz, the poor woman in question who was here illegally left the press conference for a little while because she was uncomfortable and came back and broke down crying, but didn't seem like she was on the same pages gloria allred. we will find out in the coming days when we see the document or paperwork but it smells like a political stunt. >> it's hard to see how this shakes things up. close race, two point on dividing these folks. you look at the press conference and you wonder why the woman was crying. it looked theatrical and staged. i think the democrats are obviously worried about this state. blue state. obv

happened inside of that house and, most importantly, the evidence it recovered to tie these two men, stephen hayests is being tried first and the other suspect, who will be tried after him. as many legal experts point out, this is not so much a trial about guilt or innocence, as we normally see where the defense is, of course, trying to prove that their client is not guilty. in this case, the defense attorney for steven hayes admitted from the very beginning committed this crime and admitted to the killing, as well. he said, look, don't put my client to death. just give oslife sentence. basically calling this a robbery that got out of control. late last week in a very surprise move they pointed the finger at police, basically saying they didn't respond fast enough. so, this trial is really becoming a barometer of the death penalty in connecticut. both suspects have offered to plead guilty if prosecutors would take the death penalty off the table. prosecutors denied that request and said, no, we feel like we have an air tight case, the evidence is there. this is a capital case and we're going after

. >> reporter: 9:26 a.m., hawke-petit gets in her car with suspect stephen hayes.nk manager describes the vehicle to the police. officers are dispatched to the house to set up a perimeter. 9:27 a.m., a police captain tells officers not to approach the house. almost 30 minutes go by. still, not a single officer approaches the petit home. no other authorities are alerted. not the fire department, not state police. in court, police testified that was protocol. in a hostage situation, they said, they don't storm the house. adding they had no reason to believe anyone was in immediate danger. at 9:54 a.m., a police dispatch. dr. william petit who would turn out to be the only survivor of this horrific crime was in the yard calling for help. he was bleeding badly from his head, his ankles still tied. by now, nearly 40 minutes had passed since the bank manager had warned cheshire police about the nightmare scenario unfolding at the family's home. 40 minutes. police would soon learn jennifer hawke-petit had been strangled. she and one of her daughters, sexually assaulted. i

stephen hayes, "the weekly standard." mara liasson of national public radio.ews digital politics editor, chris stirewalt, a panel first-timer. and juan williams, also from national public radio. so, as we've been saying, the president is going to announce something of a new economic plan this week, apparently focussing on tax cuts for business. steve, is it more about politics, or the economy and how much do you think it will actually help democrats in november? >> it's far more about politics. i think the white house feels like it needs to have something to campaign on, something to give vulnerable congressional democrats to run on. so this is what they settled on. i think it's far too late to have much effect on the economy, so they hope to be making a political argument. but what was most interesting i thought in your interview with tim kaine if i heard him correctly he said there have been eight tax cuts targeted to small businesses and he says we need a ninth. the white house saying we need a ninth, because this one is going to work where all the others h

lab technician took the stand yesterday, went through the text messages, that were discovered on stephen hayes and another man's cell phone for the jurors, after hayes allegedly sent the message, quote "i'm chomping at the bit to get started" text an hey, come place allegedly texted back, i'm putting the kid to bed. hold your horse, josh's daughter was five years old at the time of the crimes and hayes allegedly texted back, dude, the horses want to get loose, lol which stands for laugh out loud and jurors were told -- and not shown, cell phone pictures from the cell phone of graphic photos he allegedly took of himself during the home invasion and of the young victims, who were shown tied up to their beds with ropes. bill: autopsy pictures will be part of the evidence. today, shown yesterday, were they, laura? >> reporter: that's right, you know, the family had to leave the courtroom and you can understand why. we have seen some of the photos that we are able to show you, of the burned out bedroom, remember, these suspects are accused of not only assaulting the women, and killing them, tying t

now now after years of waiting is this crime may have taken place because one of the suspects, stephen hayeswas, quote, desperate for money. according to a connecticut police detective who interviewed hayes after the murders in july 2007. the detective testified in court today that when he interviewed hayes after the suspects had been caught leaving the petit home, he noted a strong odor of gasoline coming from hayes' body. the home was allegedly set on fire by hayes and co-defendant, so it would make sense there could have been a gasoline odor on him. also hayes showed, quote, no emotion and he remembers him being pretty quiet. >> so the guy was desperate for money, that was their plan all along, just get money? >> it seems so. according to the testimony today, the two men devised a plan to, quote, break into a house, tie some people up, grab some money and get out as fast as they can. well, we know that wasn't what happened in the end. we don't know all the details of course of what happened in that house, but we do know from police that jennifer hawke-petit was sexually assaulted and stra

prosecution's case that the mother of two had been sexually assaulted before she was manually strangled by stephen hayesand that 11-year-old makayla with the blond her had also been sexually violated before she died of smoke inhalation as she was tied up to her bed, violations against makayla allegedly came at the hands of the other in the case. forensic experts testified that there was no evidence of sexual assault on 17-year-old haley and that she managed to escape her ties. she was also tied up to her bed, and tried to flee the flames that engulfed her house. it was a fire that was set after they were all assaulted. but she collapsed and died at the top of the staircase in her home, and that's what we heard about today. mig you know, it's our job to report this to you in a matter of fact way and bring you the facts but it's tough to hear those facts and have any neutral reaction. i guess the fire marshals will appear today as well, laura? >> that's right, and actually, we just came back from a lunch recess, the fire marshal is on the stand now and again, the prosecution's case is that the two men bro

, much of what was learned yesterday came from a police interrogation of the suspect, in which stephen hayes admit to raping and killing jennifer pettitte and giving a very bizarre explanation for doing what he did. also, jurors were introduced to some very graphic cell phone pictures taken of joshua sarjasky sexually assaulting 11-year-old makaila, also the chief medical examiner took the stand and told exactly how the young girls died. >> the testimony was graphic, buglio tpheufplt had interrogated hayes moments after his arrest and he was telling the detectives he raped pettitte after jakkowski sexually molested is is-year-old makila. add to go the heart break, cell phone pictures taken by saljetski of what he did with the young daughter, he painted a picture of criminals desperate for money, of a robbery that went horrifically wrong. the medical examiner testified about the final moments of makaila, saying soot was found in the house, which was set on fire. both bodies were burned but the doctor couldn't say whether the burns occurred while the girls were alive. dr. pettitte briefly spok