mike: that was our colleague, jonathan serrie, covering the battle in afghanistan back in 2001.le in which a 20-year-old american was captured with the enemy. the californian, john walker lynn, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for supporting the taliban, but this may -- just over 16 years after his trial and conviction -- taliban johnny is set to be released early. joining me now, the former fox news producer who was with jonathan serrie on the day lynn was captured, jonathan wachtel. he's -- how are you, sir? >> good to see you, mike. mike: so this was a huge story at the time. a young american, california kid captured on the battlefield. take us back to that time. >> it was right in the heat of, you know, just after 9/11. we've got our forces over in afghanistan, special forces trying to take out the taliban, trying to eradicate al-qaeda on the ground. there's this huge battle in northern afghanistan, quite a battle going on in which some captives, taliban andal-qaeda as mixed in, are taken into this big, sprawling fortress. imagine something like the alamo but bigger. bein

jonathan serrie with more. >> hi, herself.linton was honored at the king unity brought this soma during her keynote speech at the 2016 democratic presidential nominee said voter suppression still takes place even today. take a listen. >> in the clearest example is from next door in georgia. stacy abrams should be governor leading that state right now. >> fighting voter suppression was a common name among other politicians including vermont senator bernie sanders who announced his second bid for president in early february and sherrod brown told reporters he'll make his decision on whether he'll run in the next month or so is he considered his campaign's impact on his family. new jersey senator corey booker announced his candidacy last month is also in town speaking. >> we are at a point in our country where we see a moral vandalism that is attacking our ideals and beliefs in a road in the our nation. i want to see automatic voter registration in every state in this country. if you are 18 years of age and an american citizen, y

let's get to jonathan serrie in lee county, alabama. reporter: as the sun sets over alabama you can see cleanup efforts are well under way. the national weather service believes the tornado that came through this community was a powerful e.f.4 tornado packing winds of 170 miles an hour. that's based on the extent of damage they have seen in she county, alabama. they believe the tornado was one mile wide, blowing mobile homes off their foundations and tearing roofs off houses. one man describes how he rode out the storm in one of those houses. >> i was in my room and the whole top came off the house. reporter: your family was inside? >> yes, but everybody okay. reporter: how did you survive? >> jesus. reporter: a lot of people were praying yesterday. but not everyone was so fortunate. at least three children ages 6, 9 and 10 are among the 23 fatalities. >> we lost children, mothers, fathers, neighbors, and friend. to know alabama is to know that we are a tight-knit community of people. and today each of us mourns the loss of our fellow a

jonathan serrie is reporting live from lee county, alabama. jonathan? >> imagine your taking cover from your storm. in an instant, your house and all of your belongings are scattered amongst the trees. survivors have been coming through the debris, trying to salvage momentos and photos. the items are precious for those that lost loved ones like with the case of this wedding photo with carroll dean who lost her husband when the tornado struck their home in beauregard. >> i wasn't working. he was here by himself. if i came home earlier, i would have been in the middle of it. if i could have been here, he would have gotten me to safety, he would have been here. >> here in the community of salem, a local high school coach organized an effort to salvage items from the home of a beauregard high school student that lost one family member in the storm and has another family member in the hospital amount go fight me sight for taylor thornton that died in the storm has raised nearly $35,000. family members say 10-year-old taylor loved horses and was sweet and inn

jonathan serrie reporting live from lee county, alabama. jonathan? >> hi, trace.assive cleanup is underway behind me. you can see the trucks hauling away debris. recovery efforts are in full swing here. the mayor says he expects the cleanup to take weeks, maybe months. he's heartened as he's seen people show up to pitch in. >> we're not really divided. we're humans. that's the most amazing thing, black, white, gay, straight, rich or poor, everybody has helped out. >> lee county officials say too anonymous corporations have offered to pay funeral expenses for all 23 people that lost their lives in the storm. crosses for losses delivered white wooden crosses to a local church to memorialize the storm victims. the founder has organized similar efforts after other major tragedies, including columbine and park land school shootings and boston marathon bombing. >> i see the results immediately and makes it feel like a family here. you know, everybody in the community would want to grieve somebody individually. this does it altogether because they died together. >> and t

jonathan serrie live for us on the ground. jonathan, thank you. let's bring in liz hickman that rode out the tornado with her grandchildren in lee county, alabama. liz, first of all, we're glad that you and your family are safe. the national weather service saying this was an ef-4, about 170 miles per hour winds. it's a monster. we're being told you had maybe four minutes from the warning until the actual touchdown of the tornado. what was it like for you and your family, liz? >> well, i heard some noise and i looked out the window. when i looked out the window, i heard it sounded like a train. the wind was blowing. so i told my granddaughters and their mother, i said, get to my room. so we got to my bedroom. we get on the floor and huddled together. i told them to hold on tight. sounded like a train went through our house. felt like a long time but it wasn't a long time. maybe two or three minutes. then when it was over, i told them to stay there. i went and opened the door and i looked out and i was just shocked at what i seen. my next door neig

jonathan serrie has more from selma. jonathan? >> hi, arthel, back then the biggest obstacle was law enforcement. today the biggest obstacle was weather. there was a heavy downpour. at one point midday we heard tornado sirens go off. minutes before the bridge crossing was to begin today, the rain stopped. the sun popped out briefly, and a large crowd easily in the high hundreds, possibly low one thousands crossed the historic edmund pettis bridge in commemoration of the bloody sunday march. the event has attracted past and current democratic presidential candidates including hilary clinton who spoke earlier today at a sunday worship service. let's listen. >> we're looking toward a new presidential election, thank goodness. but it's not going to make a difference if we don't bring the lawsuits and win them; right? >> new jersey senator cory booker who announced his candidacy for president last month was also invited to speak. >> it is time that we dream again bigger dreams in america, that healthcare is a right, that poverty is a w

jonathan serrie is live in atlanta with more. jonathan. >> reporter: hi, dana.now, have to be monitored constantly. with all of the wires, it makes it difficult for doctors and nurses to interact with the babies and difficult for parents to have that up close contact they want to have with newborn. researchers discovered soft ultrathin devices that can be placed on a baby's chest, back or foot that can detect vital signs without the use of wires. that will allow parents to hold and cuddle their babies while they're still being monitored in the hospital or even at home. >> very young premature babies where it's been shown to decrease the risk of pulmonary function, liver issues and infection. skin to skin contact is really where it's at right now. >> reporter: north western researchers say they hope to have these devices in hospitals within the next two to three years. >> dana: very exciting. hope that helps a lot of people. another thing, doctors have a warning for those of us who try to catch up on our sleep over the weekend. what do we need to know? >> reporte

connell: let's get to jonathan serrie, fox news correspondent, lee county, alabama, with the latest onrter: yeah, take a look behind me. this is on the periphery of the tornado. law enforcement keeping media out of the most-devastated areas to allow first-responders in. even on the periphery you can see heavy damage on the roof of this house with the tree coming down. meteorologists with the national weather service upgraded the power of the tornado that came through yesterday. >> tornado in lee county, most significant damage, upgrading that to ef-4. this is new information we're providing to you now hot off the presses. estimated wind speed of 170 miles an hour. reporter: chris darden says this is the deadliest tornado since the twister in moore, oklahoma in 2013. in hardest hit areas the tornado's path was a mile wide. mobile homes ripped off the foundations and roofs ripped off the homes. i talk with one man who rode out one of those storms. >> i was in my room. the whole top ripped off the house. i started praying. god deliver us. reporter: a lot of people were i praying yesterday

>> shepard: jonathan serrie live from atlanta. new backlash from the world's largest airplane maker a week after a boeing 737 max crash and killed everybody on board. there's word that faa managers delegated safety inspection of boeing planes to boeing. that's according to the reporting of the "seattle times." and "the wall street journal" reports transportation officials are looking into boeing's development of the 737. the parent company of the journal and the parent company of fox news share common ownership. the journal reports the transportation department's investigation began after one of the planes operated by lyon air crashed in october. now aviation officials say they see clear similarities between that incident and this month's ethiopian airlines crash. fox business network susan lee is here now. >> there are a lot of questions as to how the 737 max was safe to fly. a journal reporting a grand jury in dc issued an subpoena to one employee and they're looking for the paper trail. talking about e-mail messages, correspond

jonathan serrie, we appreciate that report. let's go to john roberts our chief white house correspondent. i mentioned at the top, getting the president on the road, obviously serving his function as president and comforter in chief, if you will. also some big changes at the white house. >> reporter: yeah, ed. this morning as the president was speaking to the press before boarding the helicopter for alabama just outside of the sight of the cameras, was bill shine the former president of fox news. there you see him on the left-hand side of your screen. he's been serving as the white house communications director since june of last year, shortly after the president left aboard air force one bound for alabama, the white house released a statement saying bill shine was resigning as communication director and he was going to join the 2020 election, re-election campaign as a senior adviser. now, there was no reason given for shine's departure. i do know after working with him just about every day here at the white house and having int

jon: jonathan serrie, selma, alabama, thanks.testers take to the streets of sacramento after the announcement no charges will be filed against the two police officers who shot and killed stephon clark nearly a year ago. police were responding to reports of vandalism when they shot the 22-year-old in his grandmother's backyard. apparently, mistaking his cell phone for a gun. clark's fiancee giving a tearful rebuke. >> the officers who shot my unarmed fiancee won't face any charges. shameful, officers killing black men without consequences. and breaking my family's hearts again. jon: dan springer is in sacramento with more. dan? >> reporter: jon, at this hour stephon clark's family is holding a news conference to talk about what their next steps are. we know they've already filed a $20 million federal lawsuit against the city of sacramento. we expect that they're calling for these officers to be fired. in her announcement yesterday, the district attorney said she was not filing the charges. anne marie schubert said that the officer

jonathan serrie live for us.g us on the phone bubba copeland, the mayor of smith station, a alabama. he just met with president trump there. first and foremost, how is your town doing? >> we're still in recovery efforts right now. we have the alabama forestry division here. organizing them one day. 700 one day, 300 one, 500 day people cleaning up roads, top of people's houses in front of people's houses. we have long way to go. we need a lot of volunteers, especially experienced volunteers with heavy equipment and chainsaws around the area to help us dig out. melissa: what was it like to have the president there? >> it is very nice. he was very personable man. with his wife and brought a bunch of staffers with him. senators were here. ben carson was here. alongwith senator shelby, senator doug jones, congressman mike rogers and the governor was here. so were other dignitaries. very nice for them to come by, to bring attention to it. that is what got us on the radar to declaring a national emergency. that is what

jonathan serrie live in alabama tonight. thank you. up next, i says terrorists make what appears to be their last stand against u.s.-backed forces in eastern syria. first, here's what some of our fox affiliates on the country are covering tonight. talk to train and tempt us go, thousands of oakland teachers are back in the classroom after union members voted to approve a contract deal giving them 11% raises and a one-time 3% bonus. the deal was reached after 3,000 teachers went on strike februar. the school board says it needs to make $21 million in cuts elsewhere to remain fiscally solvent. fox 2 in st. louis. a gas line ruptured sunday morning in central missouri. state troopers had the pipeline longs to panhandle eastern pipeline company. part of highway 151-mile north of the city of mexico was closed. no injuries have been reported. live look at denver from our affiliate fox 31. one of the big stories there tonight, an avalanche rolling through 10-mile canyon at interstate 70 was captured on camera sunday. a plume of snow can be se

jonathan serrie is live in alabama with the latest.tanding in front of a mobile home that was flipped upside down in the storm. you can bet a better perspective on the extent of the damage. you can see the debris field of downed trees and other structures. the identities of all 23 confirmed victims who lost their lives in the storm are confirmed. but they are searching for other victims hidden among the wreckage. >> we are having our investigateddors contacting families and making sure individuals who have been unaccounted for are accounted for. >> though many people have lost their homes, i have yet to hear about complains -- complaints with their homes it's more about the personal memorabilia, photos and the like. >> some things are just priceless. reporter: president trump announced he'll be visiting alabama friday to seed the storm damage for himself. liz: turning to democrat senator mazie hirono saying people who oppose ocasio-cortez's green new deal are sticking their heads in the and. >> what it stands for is a recognition of cl

. >> bill: jonathan serrie leading our coverage. what do we know about the victims thus far? >> authorities very quickly were able to make visual identifications on all but six of the victims. the coroner hoping to establish positive i.d.s on the remaining six using fingerprints. take a listen. >> we know who those individuals are. we've talked with the families and as of 12 noon today i have none reported to me as still missing. we think we have everybody. >> one of the victims has been identified as a fourth grader by the name of taylor thornton. friends have set up a gofundme site to help pay for the funeral and other expenses. that site raised more than $30,000. a lot of people wanting to help out, bill. >> bill: they might need more help than that as the days unfold. what are survivors telling you, jonathan? >> we've talked to a lot of people who were here during the storm. a lot of people who lost a lot of property and yet i have yet to meet anyone here in alabama who is complaining about the material things that they've lost. instead they say that they worry much more

jonathan serrie reporting live. jonathan?ear's arrest of the golden state killer in california that inspired him to use a process called genetic genealogy. with the popularity of at-home ancestry kits, many americans are voluntarily sharing their dna information with large public databases such as jet match. law enforcement is discovering the same technology that might help you find an unknown relative might help them find an unknown criminal. >> what jet match does is compare our unknown persons to all the people in their database. they have over a million people in there. and what it returns to us is basically a list of people that share the most dna with our unknown person. >> shepard: the labs searched the data be a related to the alabama case. police used that information to find this suspect, the 45-year-old suspect of dothan, alabama. they obtained a dna simple from him which was matched to effort recovered from the crime scene nearly 20 years ago. >> genetic genealogy helped us to identify the family from which he des

jonathan serrie is live for news lee county. jonathan? >> harris, right now forecasters believe the worst of the storms are going to pass north of here. take a look at this debris in the trees and on the ground. that is the big concern. even with moderate winds from those storms, it could cause problems for recovery crews here in lee county. late this morning, air force one landed in fot. benning over the georgia line. the president landed to meet with storm officials, first survivors, first responders and volunteers. volunteers are gathered at a church that has been used for a staging area anticipating the president's arrival. the president wants to thank first responders for the hard work they've been doing and the hours and days following sunday's powerful ef-4 tornado. late this morning, family and friends held a funeral service for taylor thornton. she was visiting her best friends's house on sunday when the tornado struck. the storm seriously injured her 10-year-old friend and killed her friend's parents, her friend's father and ste

jonathan serrie is on the ground in lee county with the latest. jonathan? >> hi, charles. authorities are keeping us away from the heaviest damage on the streets and even on the periphery of the tornado, you can see heavy damage to the homes here. a tree crashed through the middle of the roof on the house here and looking up and down the neighborhood we're seeing severe roof damage. this is on the periphery of this monster tornado. based on the damage on the ground, meteorologists with the national weather service have upgraded the power of this tornado that came through here yesterday. >> ef-4. this new information that i want to provide to you right now hot off the presses. estimated wind speed of 170 miles per hour. >> chris darden with the national weather service says this is the deadliest tornado in the u.s. since the twister in moore, oklahoma in 2013. the hardest hit areas of alabama, the tornado's path was a mile wide. mobile homes were blown off their foundations and roofs ripped off of single family homes. i spoke to one man that was in his home. >> i was in the

jonathan serrie is in lee county, where the storm struck. jonathan? >> reporter: yes, from one of the businesses that was heavily damaged. this was a bar here. in fact, some of the beers were still standing on the counter. building completely gutted. employees and the owner are going through trying to salvage whatever they can. in fact, the owner said he was on the property in his vehicle when he saw the funnel cloud approaching. he describes what happened next. >> it was very scary. i was in front. i managed to get in front of the store. i had, there was like three or four seconds before everything started falling and coming apart. >> reporter: and intense winds knocked down the nearby cell tower blocking portion of the highway. the storm system knocked out power to 40,000 homes and businesses across alabama and georgia. nearby in the town of beauregard, you can see the town's path, half a mile wide in some places. mobile homes were blown off their foundation, rooms were ripped off of single family homes. we spoke with ron washington, who was inside

jonathan serrie is there and he has the latest. you can hear the sound of hammers and occasional saws as work crews are rebuilding and also trying to get into neighborhoods, temporarily isolated from the outside world in the wake of this powerful storm. >> the day after the storm, search teams combed through the worst hit communities that were either too dangerous or impossible to reach overnight. >> we are here to stand with you today, tomorrow and through the days and weeks ahead. >> it was a powerful ef for packing winds of 170 miles per hour. >> this was the deadliest tornado since the moore, oklahoma, tornado. >> a young girl took cover in the anterior closet. >> i was in my room and the whole top started to come off the house. so i just started praying. >> intense wins top of the cell tower blocking portions of the highway near smith station alabama. the storm system knocked out power to more than 40,000 homes and businesses across alabama and georgia and cause damage in south carolina and the florida panhandle toppling trees

jonathan serrie is in lee county with the latest. jonathan? >> hi, charles.eased the names of those 23 confirmed fatalities. take a look at this wreckage behind me. this is a mobile home that was flipped over on its roof during the storm. with all of the debris around here, it's entirely possible that there could be additional victims. so authorities continue searching these devastated areas in lee county for residents that remain unaccounted for. >> the current number we're looking at is seven to eight people, which has come down from what we had. that effort will continue today and will continue to decrease as the day goes on. >> crews are working to clear trees and debris from many neighborhoods. we flew a drone over storm damage in the unincorporated community of salem, alabama. from the air, you can see the extent of the damage. mobile homes torn to shreds. congressman mike rogers toured other hard hit areas of lee county along with mayor bubba copeland. >> it's horrible when anybody loses their life in a storm like this. the children, it breaks my heart

fox news correspondent jonathan serrie is live on the ground with the latest. jonathan?e example of these hard-to-reach areas they have been searching. this mobile home turned over on its roof during the storm. the coroners released the names of all 23 confirmed victims who lost their lives in the storm. with all the damage there is still potential for others. authorities continue searching devastated areas for residents who remain under accounted for. >> current number we're looking at, 7 to 8 people come down, way down from what we initially had. that effort will continue today. hopefully the number will continue to decrease as the day goes on. reporter: crews are working to clear debris and trees from many neighborhoods in the areas of storm. we flew a drone over unincorporated community, salem, alabama. you can see mobile homes torn to shreds. furniture, belongs, scattered with downed trees. mike rogers turned other lairs of lee county and smith station mayor, bubba copeland. >> it is horrible when anybody loses their life in a storm like this. children, it breaks my

jonathan serrie is live in lee county, alabama. jonathan? >> reporter: hi, dana. i want to give you a quick look on the ground before we take you to the air. you can see a combination of trees toppled over and building materials. furniture strewn about the branches. this is some drain video we shot earlier today from the you get a perspective of how widespread the damage is. this tornado was as much as one mile wide. lee county authorities released the identities of all 23 confirmed tornado victims. however, investigators are searching some of these hard hit areas for additional residents who remain unaccounted for. >> current number we're looking at is approximately seven to eight people. it's come down, way down, from what we initially had. that effort will continue today. hopefully, that number will continue to decrease as the day goes on. >> reporter: although many people have lost entire homes, i have yet to hear anyone complain about property damage. instead, the concerns are loss of life and sentimental items such as photos, military documents and momentos

jonathan serrie, thank you very much. i want to go back now to one of our top stories here on fox.sident trump tweeting that he is a victim of presidential harassment as house democrats stepped up their investigations into the president. even as the mueller probe is winding down, we are told. i want to bring in democratic congressman john garamendi. he and i often talk about these things, and i know you ran to get to this camera. i am appreciative. let's jump in. i first want to ask, why not wait until the mueller investigation is over customer to entrust him any longer as a group of democrats? >> no. we do trust mueller, and we are very anxious to get his report and for all of it to be made. we certainly hope the attorney general william barr provides all of the information to congress and to the american public. all of us have been waiting for that. with regard to the other investigations, there is a whole lot more out there beyond the mueller probe. it goes directly to the campaign, to collusion or not. but all of the others are still very much in the question. is there anything

jonathan serrie's live in the lee county, where president trump is expected to arrive on friday on the grounds to support the people there. jonathan? >> hi, harris. sheriff jay jones was coolly pleased that his deputies were able to account for everyone. here's what he said as at a news conference with his money. let's listen. >> family members, loved ones were of course extremely concerned and we are happy to get that information out and give them the comfort to know that their loved ones have been accounted for. >> president trump will be touring storm damage here in lee county. he has approved a major disaster declaration at the request of the governed. the alec bandler public and her state of the state address with a moment of silence for victims of the story. >> there is always uncertainty about what tomorrow might bring. there's absolute uncertainty cd the resilience of the people of alabama. after all, we've done it before and we will do it again. >> businesses are joining the recovery effort, paying for funerals and providing temporary housing. some airbnb hosts are opening the

jonathan serrie is live from smats station one of the harvardest hit areas jonathan. >> the recoveryse behind me ripped off of its foundation. you can see furniture and family belongings on the inside. a tree knocked down on top of remnants of the house. president trump has approved a major disaster declaration for all of lee county. this free's up federal funds for grants, loans and other programs to help residents and businesses recover. the president received this request from -- for assistance from governor kay i'vivy began her state of the state address for victims of the storm. >> y'all it's times like these that we turn to the good lord asking for his continued comfort and healing we also give special thanks for the emergency responders and local law enforcement. >> several dozen people gathered in the gym at beauregard high school for a prayer vigil. they held hands and parade prayd for those directly affected by the storms including many of the students. >> it has been horrible. there hasn't been anything like this that's happened here before. it's really terrible seeing the

jonathan serrie is live on the ground in beauregard, alabama. we spoke to a high school from there yesterday. and that community really trying to pick up the pieces. jonathan? >> and they certainly have a lot of pieces to pick up. case in point, right now i'm standing in front of the foundation of a double wide mobile home completely torn to shreds in sunday's twister. and then look behind this. you can see other structural damage. can you see plenty of downed trees. later in the day president trump will be touring some of these disaster areas in lee county. alabama senator doug jones, a democrat, took a similar tour yesterday and praised the republican president's decision to visit the state. >> this is not new for the president either. he has seen several disasters. and i am sure he will take away from this what he has from the others and that's just the devastation and the need for help. >> funerals for some of the 23 people who lost their lives in the storm are now taking place. this morning a service is being held for 10-year-old taylor auth

steve: correspondent jonathan serrie joins us from lee county in alabama. gather more facts. reporter: i believe they are trying to gather more facts. i'm near one of the hard etf hit areas in lee county. deputies are keeping media back. we're trying to negotiate with them to get passage through to show the latest images of hard-hit areas. the eyes and ears of america so people know how situation the area is. as we go into this morning a intense ground search will be underway. authorities had to temporarily suspend it in many parts of lee county overnight. the power was knocked out. it was dark. debris was on the ground. some areas too dangerous to search overnight. some areas impossible. a local official describes some of the challenges faced. >> take a listen. >> we had to cut our way in with chainsaws. we had early derly people trapped in their houses with debris. words cannot describe it. trailer homes turned upside down. dan is unbelievable. reporter: at least 23 people were killed in this storm system but there are also stories of survival. many people

. >> sandra: jonathan serry is live in smith station, alabama 80 miles east of montgomery.> take a look behind me. this is what remains of a local bar in this town. you look at the bar and can see there are still some beers standing upright on the counter. as you can pan up you can see the building gutted. the owners describes what happened. >> i pulled up in the parking lot and i seen the debris flying in the air so i immediately took my truck and got in front of the store on the other side of the wind. i pulled around, took my truck and barely got in front of the store before everything blew apart. the windows blew out from the store onto the hood of my truck. >> intense winds tipped over a cell phone tower and blocked a highway and knocked out power to 40,000 homes and businesses across alabama and georgia. near the town of beauregard, you can see the tornado's path. roofs ripped off of single family homes and we spoke with ron washington, inside one of those homes with his family when the storm hit. >> i was in my room and i tried to go down the hallway. the whole top w