prosecutors say the couple wanted ackerson out of the way so they could raise her two sons with grantown. let's talk about it with jonna spilbor a former prosecutor. john manuelian is a former criminal defense attorney. >> good morning. jon: jonna, nine women and three men are on this jury. when they hear the details of this ongoing email battle et cetera, between to the women, the girlfriend and the former wife, what are they thinking? >> you know, i read the email exchange and i don't think that is what's going to do it for the jury because it is almost like, it was kind of a natural exchange. it wasn't amanda hayes stating to the mother of her husband's children, i want to kill you. it wasn't anything like that. it was almost rather, i say friendly, friendly overstatement but it wasn't that bad. what i think the nine women especially will relate to in this case when it comes to guilty or not guilty is the fact that murder conviction is not going to happen. an accessory after the fact is more relatable to them. i think that is what they will hang their hat on. jon: jonna, one of the

back then, ackerson was getting 11 million.r vote in may have. no comment from the white house. let's see what the white house says gender gap and mary barra and scope of dreams of people that worked so hard in this country. here is president obama. >> today, women make up about half our workforce but they still make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. that is wrong. that and in 2014 it is an embarassment. our success should depend not on accident of birth, but the strength of our work ethic and the scope of our dreams. that is what drew our for bearers here. that is how the daughter of a factory worker is ceo of @merica's largest auto maker. so that daughter of a factory worker, mary berra has been at gm including years as college intern, 33 years. dan ackerson, at gm had no experience running an automaker. came out of the carlyle group, private equity shop. he got 11 million buuks in 2012. versus mary barra's pay. will she get more money being ceo of gm right now. the white house is not commenting on this. by the way the f

but the bottom line for her, $4.4 million for her, $9.1 million for ackerson.she yet another woman making less than a man for the same job? joining the conversation is patty sellers, senior editor at large. so we don't know her long-term pay package, and a lot of times salary -- the real money is the long-term pay package. but is this fair? >> in this case, long-term compensation will be higher, we're almost sure of it. the more this chatter goes on, the more pressure gm is going to be under to deliver a package that is at least as big as dan ackerson's. >> i read something today that they were trying to fire back saying he was the ceo and the chairman and she's just the ceo, so she's not the chairman. so there would be some differences in pay. does that hold water? >> that's true. when they brought him in to basically take care of bring gm out of bankruptcy, the government was basically in charge of gm. they hired him from cargile group. cargile is a private equity. >> he said he left over $100 million on the table. >> over $100 million on the table. and he ha

>> no, sir i did not. >> did you help grant kill laura ackerson? you know that laura had died before you got to texas? >> no, sir. >> on friday prosecutors brought in brand new evidence against, letter given to her by grant's father allegedly from amanda hayes with a message to her husband. >> he says i have these letters that i've just faxed to your office that show that after the arrest, after they're both in custody that she is sending these letters to, you know, to our home asking us to tell grant hayes that she loves him, thinks about him every day. >> to talk about the case, trial attorney and fox news legal analyst bob massey. those letters are all lov lovey-dov lovey-dovey. well that undermines her principle defense that she only went along with disposing of the body because he was afraid of her husband, right? >> she stated he was manipulative. she feared for her life. she said at one time he said he was going to throw their child out the window. now you have something self authored by herself sending it to, you know, the family saying i l

>>> general motors announced the pay package for the ceo, 60% higher than her predecessor, ackerson who she replaced last month, from cars to ships, the panama canal expansion project is suspended because of massive cost over runs and that's having an impact on how ports across the country are doing business. jane wells has the story. >> reporter: webcam pictures from the panama canal show the $5 billion expansion project dead in the water and allowing bigger trips to travel from asia to the east coast of the united states has been sidelined by more than a billion and a half dollars in cost over runs. that's bad news for places like the port of savannah. >> any delay in the canal's expansion limits in the state of georgia g and in the united states east coast. it's about bringing better economies to scale and commerce. >> reporter: this port like those from miami to new york has been spending big dollars preparing for big ships bringing goods to them. the delay hurts gulf ports preparing to expert liquid gas to asia. >> we've been spending about a billion dollars and will spent $1.4 bil

he was convicted last year of murdering ackerson, the mother of his two oldest children. amanda hayes testified last week she didn't know ackerson had been killed until after the crime. she only helped get rid of did the body because her husband threatened her and forced her to join in. her attorneys today wrapping up their case. >> we already know that grant hayes has been tried and convicted of first-degree murder. and the state contends to you that in some way that amanda helped him commit that crime. we contend that that is absolutely not true. jon: jonna spilbor is a former prosecutor. esther panitche is a trial attorney. jonna, as a former prosecutor, you say this is an easier case for the defense? why? >> i do. you know why, jon? it boils down to this, this is a pure credibility contest. we have no real witnesses to the case except for the two defendants, one of which already has been convicted of the murder, the second of which is amanda hayes. this jury is really going to have to grapple with, do they believe her? they have almost have to tree for lack of a bette

ackerson is global turn around guy. he never had experience as a automaker.fair. >> interesting going behind the scenes. ashley: interesting to see what shareholders say. why she has to wait so long i don't know. >> we'll be all over it. lori: thank you, emac. the california drought is getting worse. a dozen communities are in danger of running out of water in two months. melissa francis is here for the next hour of fox business. melissa: we'll see some killer grocery bills very soon. we're going to the cme for the latest and the numbers. guys, have you been watching the olympics? ashley: i'm a huge fan of the luge. lori: i don't think started luge, have? ashley: they have some of it. the single one. lori: i'm amazed by the slope style. >> it is very cool. tonya and nancy are not there not the same. >> i'm sure we can fine knees to bash. melissa: you have any idea how much the winnings get taxed? ridiculous. we have a jam-packed show so stay tuned. lori: we'll do. melissa: barclays traders going rogue, a shocking report making the target problems seem tame. b

>> no, sir, i did not. >> did you help grant kill laura ackerson?ot. >> were you present when grant killed lawr rackerson? >> no, sir, i was not. >> did you know that laura had died before you got to texas? >> no, sir. jon: today prosecutors announcing they will call hayes' sister to testify about some brand new evidence, love letters that amanda hayes supposedly sent to her husband while he was in jail. those letters all rightedly obtained from grant hayes' father. >> he said i have these letters that i've just faxed to your office which show that, you know, after the arrest, after they were both in custody that she is sending these letters to, you know, to our home asking us to tell grant hayes that she loves him, that she think abouts about him every day. jon: joining us once again our legal panel, ashley merchant, a criminal defense attorney, and heather hanson, a trial attorney. of heather, what about this new evidence? these love letters that were written, apparently, after the crime was committed when grant hayes was already in jail, now her

but amanda hayes said she didn't know laura ackerson had been killed and she only helped her husbandf her remains after he threatened to kill her and their children. hayes was convicted of murder last year and he's now serving a life sentence. jurors now have to decide whether amanda hayes should join him in prison. they heard it from crime scene investigators who design the three day search of an alligator infested texas creek for ackerson's remains. >> it was, in fact, a decomposing body. >> we also found remains. jon: joining us is lis wiehl, fox news legal analyst and doug burns, a former prosecutor. stick with me here on this part of it. the remains ended up in texas. >> correct. jon: half a continent away from where this murder occurred. 11 days after they find the body in pieces. it was across the street from her sister's house. amanda hayes' house. why drive all the way across the country and dump the body in your sister's backyard basically if you -- if you knew this was the kind of trip you were going to make? in other words, what if he got her into the car by saying, let's

soft-spoken on the stand hayes who has pleaded not guilty says she didn't even know ackerson was deader husband forced her to help cover up the crime almost a week after the murder. she says she wanted to get help but grant hayes threatened her. >> i was freaking out. this was not the time for me to start challenging him. >> reporter: the defense argues amanda hayes also worried if she didn't cooperate, her husband of 14 months might hurt her two young stepsons and their infant daughter. >> whenever we were driving lilly was crying. he told me if i didn't shut her up he was going to throw her out of the car. >> reporter: he's already been convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. it will be up to the jury to decide if amanda hayes was his accomplice or another victim. for "good morning america," mara schiavocampo, abc news, new york. >> dan abrams, our chief legal affairs anchor joins, as always. a couple strikes, the husband convicted already and tells her sister she was part of this. >> very different case against her than against her sister. fasci

jon: hayes was accused of conspiring with her husband to murder 27-year-old laura ackerson.erced by her husband into helping him dispose of the body and did not actually participate in the murder itself. her attorneys now plan to appeal the conviction. let's bring in our legal panel today. ebony williams is a criminal defense attorney. phil snyder is a former prosecutor. phil, you said a second degree conviction in your view doesn't necessarily fit the facts of the crime here? >> well, you know it doesn't make sense. first off you can't fault the jury. they spent time. they spent three days evaluating this evidence. the verdict that they came back with seeps to split the baby what lawyers call it. the state was act for first degree, acting in concert. and defense said she didn't know the crime until her actions after the murder why should should be here. they are splitting the baby so we can't figure it out so we'll convict on murder two. jon: ebony, what do you think the prosecution did that had its greatest effect on the jurors? >> certainly, jon. the prosecutors did reall

the focus on the bathroom where they believe they dismembered ackerson's body. in an effort to later get rid of any evidence, amanda and grant hayes cleaned their apartment with bleach. after the cleanup, the hall bathroom only had a couple of bottles of shampoo in it, that's it. then prosecutors showed jurors photos after different bathroom in the hayes apartment. that bathroom was cluttered and messy. jurors got to see a handwritten letter with laura akerson's signature on it. that letter gave two custody of their children to grant hayes for $25,000. a fbi handwriting analyst said grant wrote the first paragraph and laura likely wrote the second. they went to a dumpster where investigators found a bat mats and shower curtains they believe were missing from the hayes hallway bathroom. they have found patches of carpet about bleach stains and spots on a comforter. that comforter tested positive likely being blood. it was a day of graphic show-and-tell in court yesterday. an environmental investigator from texas was also in curt thursday to testify that surveilla

that's a 60% jump from the $9.1 million her predecessor, dan ackerson, made.coming in the form of a long-term stock bonus. she is the first woman to lead a major automaker. >>> guess what? your grilled cheese just got a little healthier. kraft announcing it's going to remove artificial preservatives from some of its individually wrapped kraft single slices. kraft says customers want convenient foods with simple ingredients and no artificial preservatives. it's the latest move by a major food-maker to use healthier ingredients. last week, subway announced it's stopping its use of a chemical found in yoga mats and rubber-soled shoes that was used in its bread. i wonder if the taste of the bread and cheese will change. won't it be funny if it changes for the worse? you're like, bring back the chemicals. >> used to love grilled cheese sandwiches, so now i can go back to it. >> you don't eat them much? >> maybe i should start. alison, thank you so much. >>> now let's go >>> the ice would build up on tries. trees will come down and take down power lines. >>> shirley