Transcripts For FOXNEWS Happening Now 20110621

he is two time governor of utah and also ambassador in the obama administration to china. he's a conservative but has some moderate positions. he began his campaign kickoff in the last hour with a long walk with his family, his long time wife, his high school sweetheart, mary kay, as well as their seven children, two of whom are adopted, and he centered on america's destiny, warning about the federal decifit, saying in the next ten years, every dollar will go off to pay off social security, medicare and interest on the debt and warned if our nation continues on that path, the discretion for america is downward. >> for the first time in history, we are passing down to the next generation a country that is less power ful, less compassionate , less competitive, and less confident than the one we got. this, ladies and gentlemen, is totally unacceptable, and it is totally unamerican. >> huntsman, the son of a billionaire and morman is fluent in mandarin, he touted his global experience, having been an ambassador to several countries, and several positions cut across expectations. he is prolife but also procivil unions. and critics, as well as some democrats, note that he backed president obama's stimulus plan. so perhaps to burnish his conservative credentials is the reason why he chose this spot for, as -- where, as he said, president reagan announced here in 198o. president reagan, of course, also a former governor of a state. mr. huntsman then conducted a few interviews and is now on his way to new hampshire, where he will make a similar announcement, in the early afternoon, then it's back here to new york city, for the presidential fund-raiser in manhattan. jon huntsman in the race, launching it here where ronald reagan did three decades ago. jon, back to you. jon: and the field grows. eric shawn, thank you. for more on huntsman's announcement and his white house bid, i'm joined by brit hume, fox news senior political analyst. the former republican governor of a relatively small western state, announces that he's running for president, and we're not talking about gary johnson of new mexico, we're talking about jon huntsman. who he is, brit? >> well, he is just what you described, jon, but i must say, having heard his announcement speech today that i'm not sure that a garden variety rank and file republican voter looking for someone who would present a little more excitement, perhaps, than the rest of the candidates already in the field would have learned very much about who he is, from what he said today. now, you don't expect a candidate making an announcement of his campaign to engage in a laundry list of policy prescriptions, but even by the standards of speeches like this one, this was a remarkably vague and general speech. and i thought there was a decided sort of lack of flavor to it. he's not well known, he's not styleish orator, i would say. i'm not saying he's a bad speaker but he's not going -- he's not one of these people that can make up a lack of specifics by the power of his rhetoric or force of his personality, so i'm not sure this was a particularly fortuitous debut among republicans looking for someone who would add real drama and some real sense of excitement to the field. jon: national journal online has an article about him just out this morning. you might have seen it. the opening line says the transformation of jon huntsman from improbable presidential hopeful to a formidable contender for the republican nomination in under eight weeks is something of a marketing miracle, and the article goes on to talk about how he and his media team have positioned himself. but formidable presidential con ternd. do you get that sense? >> well, i think that remains to be seen, jon. there's a lot of talk about him, because we're in the -- what has sometimes been called the horse latitudes of presidential politics, which is the summer before, it's the first day of summer, the summer before ferghts and -- summer before, and apart from announcements and a few scattered debates, not a lot is happening. there's a sense that there's no big frontrunner over the huge majority support, and there certainly isn't that, so the appetite and curiosity about new people in the field is strong. so there was a lot of anticipation for this. and his team certainly helped to build that. the question will be whether he delivered. now, look, we've got a long way to go, there's a lot that can happen. your opening speech isn't that big a deal, but that's all we're talking about today because it just happened. and it seemed to me it was a little bland. ojon it's my understanding that he was invited to both of the previous debates. was it a mistake for him to skip? >> well, at this point you got to start to play. now whrrks it was a mistake to visit -- to skip these two, you know, i can't say with any certainty, but at some point, you've got to get in there, you've got to distinguish yourself from the rest of the field, you've got to either by the force of your personality, the quality of your jo -- oratory or by by the way you defend and dispp your positions, you've got to set yourself apart. and you've got a lot of people to set yourself apart from here. and a lot of the territory that he spoke about today, you know, dealing with the growing national debt and dealing with the economy and so forth, there are a lot of people already standing on that ground. that doesn't mean it isn't the right ground to try to occupy but you've got to have something to say to crowd these other people out of the way and say hey, these the guy, and i -- he's the guy and i think he has distance to go to do that. onjon we'll see what happens. as we said, the field gets more crowded and there could be more coming into the race. >> i don't doubt it. jon: america's asking, later this hour, we'll be putting your questions to another republican presidential con ternd. former governor tim pawlenty, when we talk with him live. get those questions in. you can join our live chat, fox news.com/happening now, click on the america's asking tab and get those questions in to us. jenna: also "happening now", testimony resumeing in the casey anthony murder trial. we have a live look inside that courtroom today. as you might recall yesterday, the judge abruptly recessed the trial after scolding lawyers for both sides for wasting the jury's time. casey anthony, who you're seeing on your screen here, faces the death penalty if convicted of first degree murder in the death of her little daughter caylee. let's check in with phil keating, live at the courthouse. we understand today's testimony centers around the timeline? >> reporter: yes. the timeline of when specifically caylee anthony's skeletal remains were predecomposition remains were placed in that wooded area, just a five minute walk from the anthony home. the state's opinion here, prosecutors allege that casey anthony killed her daughter, caylee, first with chloroform to make her go unconscious and duct taped her mouth and nose to suffocate her and 3-5 days after having the body in the trunk, dumped the body in the woods. that would have been late june 2008. well, the defense expert called to the stand this morning, a jane bock, she was asked specifically about her forensic botny opinion based on the plant growth and root growth in the woods around where the bones were discovered in december of 2008, how long she thought the shortest amount of time possibly could have been that those remains were there, and this answer, of course, provoked a lot of stern cross-examination by jeff ashton, but here is what she said. take a listen: >> can you tell me whether or not you have formed an opinion as to the shortest period of time that the remains of caylee anthony could have been at the scene in which they were found? >> yes. two weeks. >> reporter: two weeks. in other words, at the very beginning of the month, or the end of november, thanksgiving weekend, 2008, that's the allegation here made by the forensic bot onist. -- botanist. jeff ashton on cross-examination seems outright perplexed by this, he reiterated to the witness, you are aware that there were some of caylee's bones found buried, 4 inches deep in muck. covered in muck, the top layer of soil, leafs, debris, branches, and she says well, maybe a dog could have pushed it down or a coyote, to which jeff ashton said we don't have the pleasure of coyotes in florida, which actually, we do, but either way, somewhat of a comical exchange there, and not sure this witness, expert witness, really performed all that well for the defense. jenna: coyotes, no coyotes. it gets back to this claim, doesn't it, by the defense that, there is someone else that should remain a suspect in this case. can you tell us more about that, phil? >> reporter: exactly. there were a couple of bombshells in the opening statement of jose baez, one was that caylee accidently drowned, of which there's no evidence prior to the opening statement of this trial, and also, that perhaps caylee's remains were discovered maybe in august of 2008, and then redeposit those woods prior to the december discovery. that was made by roy cronk, that meter read ner orange county, florida, and the allegation, the claim being made by ho -- jose baez, he was trying to get $250,000 reward money to discover her remains, saying they were hid somewhere, redeposited them in december of '08 to cash in on that reward. this would be testimony to somewhat support that bombshell claimed by jose baez but he has yet to produce any evidence other than the doctor spitz on saturday saying he could not rule out accidental death. nothing else specifically so far in testimony has supported this drowning theory, but as the judge said, it looks like we are now going to go through this week and into the end of next week. jenna: we'll see what happens next, phil, thank you very much. phil keithing in orlando, florida. coyotes down there, everything. what a case. jon: it is very, very strange. let's hope they get to the bottom of it in one way or another. in arizona, firefighters have the upper hand on two of the three huge wildfires burning there. still no word on what sparked them, but senator john mccain is speaking out about his somewhat controversial remarks on the role illegal immigrants might have played. senator mccain in his own words on that, next. jenna: dozens of twisters reported touched down across the heartland. just overnight the storm's destructive power caught on camera. we'll show thaw. also ahead -- >> jon: you pick the story you want to see, rick has today's choices on tap. >> this is you decide, these are three stories. we like them all but we won't to -- we want to know what you like the best. i've got the happening now page on my ipad and you can see your choices, you can hear more about the pink tank in eastern europe. why is there a pink tank? we'll tell you. also yesterday we talked about this long picnic table. today we've got long sushi, you can put that on your table. >> and pink dough, what are they frying up at the county fair and why is it pink? you decide and we'll report on it later on in the show. so keep it right here. go and vote, and more of "happening now" when we come right back. jenna: welcome back, everybody, to a fox news weather alert. tornadoes are hitting america's heartland again. this is york county, nebraska. take a look at this, where you can see several homes ripped apart by the storms. there are yorts of two dozen tornadoes touching down in nebraska, as well as in kansas. >> oh my god. >> oh my god, look at that for sure, this is aurora, nebraska, you can see that massive funnel cloud, storm chasers getting this footage got an awfully close look at the storm that also brought large chunks of hail as well. we're going to move you to silverlake, video captured by a storm chaser there, you can see that dark swirling cloud. look at that debris, picking up everything and anything in its path. you can see the debris falling out ofo well, what looks like a large funnel cloud. more severe weather by the way is threatening the midwest today, so those folks are not out of the woods yet. a lot more to come. jon: more than 10,000 people in north dakota told to leave their homes, not because of tornadoes. this time it's the surrie river, rise to go historic levels. some residents are sticking around to try to protect their property, others are grabbing belongings, and hoping they have homes to return to once the water recedes. >> we are sandbagging and building up the area, and everyone kind of gave up and we're just moving -- everyone is moving out now. >> hopefully we can salvage our house and see what happens from there. jon: similar stories are playing out up and down the missouri river. residents in the town of hamburg, iowa are preparing to leave if a temporary levy there fails to hold. the town's permanent levy collapsed last week. jenna: it's not one thing, it's another. we feel for all of you going through this extreme weather. we've been telling you a lot about arizona as well. you know, arizona is has attack firefighters across the state to prevent any wildfires from starting. the state is in the middle of a fight to contain three fires, including the largest one ever recorded here, the wallow fire, so far, it's sorch dollars more than 800 square miles in eastern arizona and also new mexico. it's taking down dozens of homes. in the meantime the monument fire is burning north of the mexican border, it's 40 percent contained but those in its path say the scale of destruction just doesn't seem real. >> it's surreal. it's something you see in a move he. and you don't see it here behind the lines. but what's going on down there is just crazy. jenna: well, fire investigators don't know what started the fires, but they say that they believe that humans are responsible for all three. now, arizona senator john mccain was standing by his comments from this weekend, that there is substantial evidence illegal immigrants are at least partly responsible for wildfires. on fox p nendz today, he exp dollars how he received that information: >> i mentioned what i had just been briefed on by fire service officials, and had fire service that have confidence before congress as short a time ago as 2006, and is the fact that some of these fires are set by people who cross our border illegally. jenna: again, the official word from fire investigators are they don't know what exactly started these fires. it's still under investigation. senator mccain also pointed out the monument fire started in a forest while it was closed to the applicable. still more to come on that. we certainly appreciate it when you send us photos from your home town areas. we have this incredible picture that jack took, this is what the monument fire looks like in sierra vista at night. incredible to take that and just see the amount of space that this fire is enveloping. you can upload your photos and videos at foxnews.com/you report and we may show them on the air. we certainly look at them all. just remember, safety always comes first. jon: tornadoes, floods, wildfires, we have less than two hours left of spring 2011. a lot of folks are hoping mother nature will just simply calm down. meteorologist janice dean knows what the mother has in store for us. j.d. >> reporter: got any news, right j.d.? first, ice cream for everybody this afternoon! it does arrive at 1:15 eastern time. we do have a little bit of good news. as for the wildfire danger, winds are capping down at least for the next 48 hours. that will give firefighters a handle on this wallow fire across arizona, so winds will be calm for wednesday, but thursday, friday, the weekend, they'll start to act up again and this is the worst part of this system, or the wildfires, is it's erratic an unpredictable. the highs, though, very warm, especially across the southern part of the four corners region. we're talking way above 100 degrees, 108 in phoenix. so it's going to remain dry, it's going to remain warm, but the winds are going to die down for the next 48 hours. speaking of severe weather, we had 40 reports of tornadoes across nebraska and kansas. this system is really moving slowly. the potential for severe weather exists again today, not the high risk or the moderate risk we saw yesterday but certainly could see large hail damaging winds and isolated tornadoes across a widespread part of the station from the ohio valley and towards the appalachians. how about a good news weather-related story, guys? i know you're going to love this story. this involves a little deer, bambi, a young fawn that ended up in a fast moving creek but he or she must have taken swimming lessons because he or she managed to get out so quickly. isn't that a good news story? dry land! i bet you the momma was very proud of him or her and relieved. isn't that a story! >> jon: cute bambi. j.d., don't cry. your mascara is going to run. >> reporter: reporter the makeup lady did, they don't know what to do with me. jon, it's the first day of summer! >> jon: i'm all over that. thanks j.d. jenna: in a moment, back inside the casey anthony murder trial. how will the defense wrap you and will casey take the stand? a closer look, just ahead. jon: i'm jon scovment in our fox news acquisitions room where we're bringing in satellite feeds from all over the country, all over the world, there is the capitol bill, about three hours from now senate hearings begin on the nomination of leon pneta to leave cia and head to the pentagon. it is expected he will be easily confirmed. up above on remote 224, there is the face that has become so familiar to americans, a live look at casey anthony as she listens to testimony ostensibly on her behalf. the defense case is underway. will she have to testify? that is still the question everyone is asking. jenna has more on that. jenna. jenna: certainly is one of the questions, jon. of course, we're several weeks into this trial. the defense calling the forensic botanist today, she testified on leaf patterns that little caylee's body may have only been in the woods two weeks. cross-examination went pretty rough for that witness. we want to talk about more of the forensic evidence. pathologist from jon j. college, doctor, what do you think about this botanist, what she has to say about the leaf growth and what it tells us about the timeline? >> well, jenna, i think what we're seeing here is a strategy by the defense to neutralize each and every expert brought by the prosecution. jenna: is it working? >> it is definitely working, because there is a diametrically different opinion of the botanist, jane bock, today as compared to the state's botanist. let me say this, whatever the experts dork it's got to be based on a sound, scientific foundation. i'm an advocate for good science and in both cases, they're talking about the growth rate of vegetation. and for that, you need a database, you need a study, and so both of these people are giving their expert opinion. but not based on a good scientific foundation. i think one's hunch is as good as the other's, and i there's an effective neutralzation going on now. jenna: it sounds like you're not convinced by the evidence so far. >> i don't think this is very good evidence at determining the postmortem interval. jenna: what would you do? >> i think you have to look at the endomology, certainly the vegetation is very important, but i think the problem is for the state, because you know, their theory is that casey anthony left caylee there, six months before the body was found, and they have to prove that, and the burden is on them and they're not doing that. that's the issue, i think, for the defense. jen it's interesting to hear you criticize, you know, or constructively criticize the state's case here, because most of the criticism has been towards the defense, and the focus on the inexperience of the defense team. as far as the experts that the defense is bringing forward, what do you know about these experts that they've put on the stand? are they legit? >> they're very legit. let me just make sure that the viewers understand, i am a consultant for the defense team. so -- but i'm being as fair and balanced as i can possibly be. these people are extremely well known in the profession one is a pioneer in pathology. bill rodriquez is extremely well known as an anthropologist. they're bringing forward some real top notch expertise. and again, you can look at the same item of evidence and have a completely different opinion, and that's what, again, the defense is doing. they are neutralizing the state's case, bit by bit. jenna: doctor kobilinsky, thank you. it's nice having you. >> certainly a pleasure. jenna: and here to talk to us about this, dwayne, we were getting an up close shot of the parents of casey anthony inside the courtroom, who are sitting there. what's your next move? you're a defense attorney, what's the next move for you? >> well, jose baez made big promises in opening statement. he promised there was going to be evidence that casey anthony was molested by her father. there was going to be evidence that caylee anthony drowned in a swimming pool. and at some point in his case, he's got to put on some evidence that these things happened. jenna: so if you -- for you, as far as the forensic evidence, dr. kobilinsky says this neutralizes what the prosecution has to say. you say there has to be more from the defense besides this forensic evidence? >> i agree, there's a battle of the experts and the defense is doing a good job in the battle of the experts, but i had a case once with a prosecutor, where they made statement necessary opening statements that they couldn't back up with the facts and on closing argument i walked up to the jury and i pointed, and i made notes where the prosecutor was standing and i said the prosecutor stood here and told you this and he told you this and it wasn't true, was it and he stood you there and he told you that was true and it wasn't. that's what's going to happen to jose baez if he doesn't put on evidence that backs up what he said in opening statements. jenna: i only have 30 seconds, dwayne. how close do you think it is that jose baez for being held in contempt, that the judge stoping this case because of all the obstacles, all the criticism of this team? >> i believe that jose baez is going to be held in con tevment probably not during the proceedings because the judge doesn't want a mistrial. no judge wants a mistrial. but when it case is over the judge has basically promised he's bringing this to the the state bar of florida and i believe there's going to be a bar complaint against jose baez and ile the judge is going to try to hold him in contempt after the case is over. jenna: at every level, there's a different twist and turn to this case. dwayne, nice to have your expertise, thank you sir. >> thank you. jon: another controversial case ahead, three people die in a bizarre ritual. was it a tragic accident? or was it criminal? manslaughter. new details from arizona, as a jury decides the fate of a self-help guru whose sweat lodge retreat ended with the deaths of several followers. >> a new plan to save social security, why an older work force might be part of the solution to the problems facing the young. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] and just like that, it's here. a new chance for all of us: people, companies, communities to face the challenges yesterday left behind and the ones tomorrow will bring. prudential. bring your challenges. with diabetes, it's tough to keep life balanced. i don't always have time to eat like i should. and the more i focus on everything else, the less time i have to take care of me. that's why i like glucerna shakes. they have slowly digestible carbs to help minimize blood sugar spikes, which can help ler a1c. glucerna products help me keep everything balanced. 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[ male announcer ] glucerna. delicious shakes and bars. helping people with diabetes find balance. jon: after months of testimony and very heated closing arguments the jury gets the case today against james arthur, the self-help author accused of manslaughter in the sweat lodge deaths in arizona. rick has more on this from the breaking news desk. >> reporter: this is the deadly sweat lodge ceremony that took place in october of 2009 outside of sedona, arizona. a bunch of people killing a tent and piping hot heat sent into the tent as part of a ritual headed up by ray who is a self-help motivational speaker, who is on trial for manslaughter, three people died in that tent in sedona arizona. the trial lasted almost three months, as you take a look at victims there. in closing arguments prosecutors played the jury a tape of ray telling his followers, quote, this lodge will provide one of the most intense altered states you have ever had in your life. it will be the most intense heat you have ever experienced in your life. it will feel as though you're going to die. death is the biggest fear you face, you must surrender to that fear, it is okay to die. the prosecution, said if he is convicted on the three counts of manslaughter he could face 37 years behind bars. they could convict him of negligent homicide, it carries a max of 11 years. the jury should be getting the case later on today. we'll keep you posted on the deliberations. jon: please do, thanks. jenna: it's a matter of paying a little bit now or a hrat later. kay bailey hutchinson has a plan to retain social security for retirees. the details are slowing the pace of cost of living increases and raising the retirement age to 69. this is to prevent what the social security administration says will be massive across the board cuts in benefits in years to come. what exactly are we looking for as far as this plan for social security. >> reporter: she makes it solvent for 75 years with no tax increases and no cuts in core benefits. the trust fund runs dry in 2036. without actions seniors would face an across the cut board in benefits of 23%. for low-income seniors that could be a painful blow. that could lead to heavy tax increases on those still working, but that would be tough as the senator describes in a youtube presentation, listen. >> in 1950 there were 16 workers supporting one retiree. today only three workers support one retiree. >> reporter: now senator hutchison would avoid short falls by accelerating the increase in the retirement age hitting 67 in 2017. 68 in 2023 and 69 in 2027. no cuts in core benefits but would reduce the cost of living increase by 1% which she says would now cost seniors about $12 a month. her plan to extend the life of social security and fill in what would otherwise be and get this a $6 trillion shortfall between the taxes coming into social security and the benefits that have been promised to all those seniors. jenna. jenna: now that we have a few of the details, we understand it that the senator wants to take this plan to the vice president, make it a part of the deficit reduction talks that are taking place? >> reporter: that's right. she has written a letter to the vice president. per proposal would take some money from the system from social security revenues about 400 billion over the next ten years. now in one sense social security doesn't add to the deficit, it's a closed system, if you will, financed entirely by contributions with no call on general revenues which is the case with medicare. congress has long spent all the money in the trust fund and has to pay that money back starting this year. in that sense it will start contributing to the deficit. this plea postal woul proposal t contribute to deficit reduction as well. jenna: interesting, some people like that, some people don't. we'll continue to take a look at all the deficit plans as they come about. jon. jon: calculating the end game in afghanistan, that's what is going on right now in washington. president obama tomorrow will outline his plans to withdraw some troops from afghanistan beginning next month. the big question is how many? while military brass prefer a gradual drawdown starting with a few thousand troops, a bi-partisan group of lawmakers wants a much bigger number than that to start coming home. listen to what democratic senator jeff merkley of oregon told happe "happening now." jenna: give me a number. >> we are talking about initial reductions of 50 to 25,000 troops. carl levin has stepped in and said it should be at least 15,000, roughly half of the surge number. jon: michael ohanlan is a senior fellow for politics studies at the brookings institute. what is your number. >> a few thousand is the number if you want to keep building up the afghan army and police and stabilizing the country. you can go to a much deeper cut if you want to discard the current strategy, unfortunately you'll jeopardize the gains we've made in the process. the way to think of this is modest reductions now, and then much larger reductions at the end of 2012. that would fit with the current strategy. it's a strategy i think that is starting to work on the ground and whenever one should be a little bit careful about quickly diskargd it. jon: there are rumors leaking out of washington today that the president may call for reduction t-s of as many as 30,000 troops almost immediately, essentially dismantling the surge forces that he ordered in there. sometimes it's an expectations game, you leak a number like that out in washington, then you call for a smaller number and everybody says, oh, wow, do you have any inside information as to what the president is going to do. >> i don't have inside information but i don't think the president is going to call for 30,000 out this year. i don't think that is among the major options he's considering. that would essentially require us to give up territory that we had spent american resources and blood in liberating and in clearing in the last couple of years. i think it's reasonable to debate 5,000, i'd prefer a smaller number, but it's reasonable to think about 10,000. it's not reasonable to think about 30,000 unless you're going to simply surrender back to potential taliban control many of the areas that we have since cleared. the 30,000 number is more about the end of 2012. and i think by that point the afghan army and police should be big enough, strong enough and the insurgency ideally will have been weakened not just in the south of the country but in the east according to current campaign plans, that we can probably do a bigger reduction by the end of next year. that's where i think the 30,000 number comes from. jon: the surge was intended to blunt the effectiveness of the taliban. did it accomplish that? >> in the south and southwest of afghanistan, yes, in the capitol city yes, but not yet in the east. and the overall national levels of violence have not really declined. we are seeing the key population centers in the south and southwest return to a much more normal way of life. the question is, how much can the taliban fight their way back this year, and so far they are trying, but with only limited success. and then can we extend the progress to the east along the pakistan border in the areas that are closer to the capitol city but a little bit removed from it. so that is sort of where we stand. there is about a halfway point that we've reached in terms of the current campaign plan. if you're going to carry that through it requires only gradual drawdowns in the next 12 to 15 months, then you can accelerate by the end of 2012. jon: we'll see what the president announces. thanks. jenna: a mother and her kids among a handful of survivors after a fiery plane crash. why experts say pilot error may be the only reasonable explanation for the crash. it's remarkable that anyone survived. it happened feet from a runway. rick has new information on this. he's going to be joining us next. [ female announcer ] only yoplait original has twice the calcium of the leading yogurt. that's 50% of the daily value. pass on the news and make sure you and everyone you know is getting the calcium they need. ♪ ...they could stop spending our money on things like... ...a cotton institute in brazil... ...poetry at zoos... ...treadmills for shrimp... but instead of cutting waste... or closing tax loopholes... next month, congress could make a deal that cuts medicare... ...even social security. i guess it's easier to cut the benefits we ened... than to cut pickle technology. ♪ jenna: right now, dramatic pictures coming into our interest national desk of a deadly plane crash in russia. amazingly when you take a look at the photos, right, rick, there are survivors. isn't that incredible. >> reporter: it is, it's a miracle. the survivors are in critical condition. the video has just come in. we want to show this to you. this is a flight an aircraft that was flying in very heavy fog and the runway lights that the pilot was aiming forwent o out. they malfunctioned, a recipe for disaster and that's exactly what took place in northwest russia. 52 people on board the passenger jet. 44 of them died. you mentioned the survivors, there were eight of them, a ten-year-old boy, a flight attendant among them. all in critical condition as i mentioned. a spokesperson for the airline said the plane went down on the final approach making a crash landing a mile from the runway. the plane broke apart, it burst into flames. no official cal cause although there was bad weather. the black boxes have been recovered. a sad situation in russia. 44 people are dead, eight people seriously injured after that passenger jet crash. back over to you. jenna: unbelievable, rick, thank you. jon: there is more bad news in a crucial sector of our economy. home sales hit a new low in what is shaping up to be another bad here on the housing front. ten ways to save the economy, important information you need to know before your next dip in the pool, especially if kids are going to be joining you, that is coming up on this the first day of summer. boy, i'm glad we got aflac h aflac! oh, i've just got major medical... major medical. ...but it helps pay the doctors. pays the doctors, boyyy! 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[ pigeons ] heyyy! hooo!!! ." jenna: a quick public service announcement i guess. we were planning on talking to presidential candidate former governor of minnesota tim pawlenty right now. unfortunately he's not going to make the show today. he had a little problem with his flight. flight delays we have no control over. he's not going to make it today. we are saving your questions on the america's asking chat. we will bring him those questions when he joins us hopefully in short order. we have a great housing panel coming up 12:30 eastern time. any questions about the housing market come chat with us. i any jon is chatting with you right now, aren't you, jon. jon: trying to, getting a few thoughts in there. new details in the hunt for one of the f.b.i.'s most wanted fugitives. james white tee bulger has been on the run for 15 years. they are running a new tv ad that they hope will appeal to women that they hope will lead to his capture. skwraoupl lee bandaras has more. >> reporter: the new public announcement is what is a long and 16 year search for the mob boss who is on the f.b.i.'s ten most wanted list. they want to expose his girlfriend. the campaign which begins airing today in 14 television markets points out that grigg has had several plastic surgeries and offers a one hundred thousand dollar reward for her whereabouts. the psa also stresses the age difference between the two. >> she is wanted for harboring a fugitive on the f.b.i.'s 10 most wanted list. she is the girlfriend of the 18-year-old. call the tip line at call fbi. >> reporter: as part of the campaign the agency also released a fresh wanted poster which as you can see points out grigg is known to frequent beauty salons. the tpaoeu t 5'6" blue i'd blona dental assistant before going on the lamb. she has perfect oral hygiene and teeth as a result of going to the dentist. she has used the alley asess listed. she has taken out ads aimed at dentists and plastic surgeons. they hope it will bring bulger to justice. white tee who is accused of 19 murders is still considered to be very dangerous. he's known to carry a knife. the last sighting of the world travelers was in 1992. the f.b.i. has doubled the reward to $2 million. jon: they want to guy badly. >> reporter: yes they do. jenna: defense attorneys for casey anthony trying to raise doubt about how long caylee's body was in the woods near her family's orlando home. the judge hands the defense a set back. we'll go live inside the courtroom for the latest on that. think you are safe from a computer violence, jon. jon: i've always heard it's safer than a pc. jenna: everyone talks about apple as one of the world's hottest computer brands. facing a possible attack. what you need to know to protect your computer. we have that coming up. losing your chex mix too easily? time to deploy the chex mix boring potato chip decoy bag. now no one will want to steal the deliciousness. with a variety of tastes and textures, only chex mix is a bag of interesting. thought they were dead. [ laughter ] [ grunting ] huh? [ male announcer ] should've used roundup. america's number one weed killer. it kills weeds to the root, so they don't come back. guaranteed. weeds won't play dead, they'll stay dead. roundup. no root. no weed. no problem. jenna: the casey anthony in a lunch recess right now, the defense earlier calling a forensic expert who raised doubts about the timeline of little caylee's body being in the woods. rick is watching this and has been throughout the morning. what is the latest. >> reporter: the expert you mentioned is a forensic botanist, they are name is jane bach. the defense is trying to raise doubt about just how long caylee's body was in the woods. that would support the possibility that perhaps somebody else dumped the body while casey was in jail. just this morning the judge deciding to limit the testimony of a defense witness. this was a dna expert, another one who will not be able to testify about the decomposition of fluid or the dna that was found in the trunk of anthony's car. the judge's reason is the defense team did not give the prosecution enough time or information to prepare a response. the judge says that this evidence could come into play a little bit later on, at a later date. on the stand this morning jennifer welch the photographer on the scene who took pictures of little caylee's remains. yesterday judge belvin perry got a little fed up with the attorneys over their constant bickering and then he recessed the court for the rest of the day, surprising some. it seems like everybody is behaving themselves well enough for the trial to resume today. and you can see that it is streaming live on the ipad app. you can check it out whenever you want. you can go to the ipad, itune store and download the faction channel ipad app and watch the entire trial. our legal panel will weigh in on the defense and their case that they are presenting today in court a little bit later on. back over to you. jenna: rick, sounds good. thank you. hi, everybody, we are so glad you are with us. i'm jenna lee, welcome to a brand-new hour of "happening now." jon: i'm jon scott. we are learning new details about president obama's plans for the way forward in afghanistan. we expect to hear directly from the president tomorrow. several white house sources telling fox news he has not made a final decision on just how many troops to bring home from afghanistan this year. the president ordered 30,000 additional troops there back in 2009 pledging to start withdrawing some of them this summer. mike emanuel live at the white house for us now. there are reports that as many as 10,000 troops are likely to be pulled out of afghanistan by the end of the year, mike, what are you hearing. >> reporter: jon, sources outside the white house say that that may be the high watermark if you will, that that may be the the boldess withdrawal plan for this year given to president obama. ultimately it will be in the commander and chief's choice in terms of how many he wants to remove. the thing many people will be watching for is essentially the pace of the removal of all of the surge forces, the some 30,000 surge forces. i've had sources tell me that some of the president's political advisers would like to see them out by july of next year, but the pentagon and senior military commanders would like to see them stay through into the fall of 2012 to give two sustained fighting seasons, this one that we're in, and then next summer to really pound the enemy. here at the white house they don't want to box the president in, here is white house spokesman jay carney. >> the surge of 30,000 forces was substantial building on 68,000 that were already there, and that is a robust, substantial number of american forces. >> reporter: we know the president is in decision-making mode. he has a leader later today with defense secretary gates and he will reveal his plan on afghanistan tomorrow, jon. jon: obviously leading republican contenders for president are going to have some thoughts on this. any advance word from them? >> reporter: yeah, there have been some talking about the idea of wanting to start pulling out troops, some of the leading republicans on capitol hill are saying allow the commander's to do their thing, to really take the fight to the enemy. here is arizona senator john mccain. >> finally, if it's in the area of withdrawal of support troops then i understand how that might be accomplished, and i'd like to see the details. if it draws down people from the surge that would be withdrawing people before our job is finished. >> reporter: mccain and a lot of the military commander's would like to see the triggerpullers, if you will, stay the longest. the guys at the tip of the spear, if you will, and perhaps if you're going to bring some people outlet them be support forces, jon. jon: mike emanuel at the white house for us. mike, thank you. jenna: crews in arizona are scrambling to contain several wildfires burning in the state. they are making some progress, that is the good news. some of the thousands forced from their homes are now being allowed back. but there are new concerns that dry conditions and strong wind will just fan those flames. the so-called monument fire makes the situation even worse. anita vogel is live in our west coast bureau with more on this. >> reporter: we're expecting a little break from the gusty winds today, and winds are supposed to be a lot more mild. but in any case late yesterday governor jan brewer of arizona called on the arizona national guard to step in and help especially with security because there are a lot of evacuations going on. this fire is south of the massive wallow fire that we've been talking about for weeks now. it's burning south of tucson and into mexico. so far around 27,000 acres have burned. 58 homes and 22 businesses have been lost. everyone else in harm's way is working to protect their properties, including this pool supply store in sierra vista, which stopped its shipments of chlorine to stay safe. >> it's surreal. it's something you see in a movie, and you don't see it here behind the lines, but what is going on down there is just crazy. >> reporter: now north of the monument fire the wallow fire is still burning. it's now officially the largest fire in arizona history at more than 500,000 acres. it is more than 50% contained, but still threatening a few areas in moo next could he like the city of luna. firefighters there say they are on the job. >> hopefully we've put some new divisions up here. we are going to try and scout, find ways around this thing with doizers and hand lines and stop the forward spread of this today. >> reporter: back at the monument fire conditions are as follows, 95 degrees today, low humidity but light wind from the north, northwest which is good according to firefighters because it means it's pushing the fire into itself. they say the next two days are critical because winds could pick up again on friday. jenna, there are still thousands of people who are evacuated, but they are slowly trickling back into their homes and we hope to see more of that happen today. back to you. jenna: not soon enough. anita, thank you very much. jon: well it's sort of a tip toe act with mother nature along the swollen missouri river. six flood control dams playing a part in a complex effort to ease the flooding along the longest river. we are not far from the garrison dam where massive amounts of water are being released. >> reporter: this is actually being called a historic flood and the water is not done rising just yet. that is in part actually before i get to the other part i'm going to show you right behind me here where you can see some of the sandbags. this is everywhere along the area where we've been here, all through north dakota. i mentioned that this is historic in part because the garrison dam since it was constructed has never opened its floodgates to release. all 28 of them are now open. they are trying to relieve some of the pressure. we talked to the army corps of engineers and they told us they were ready at the beginning of the season for the anticipated snow melt and rain. then in may they had a weekend where they had a year's worth of precipitation in just a few days. that took all the flexibility out of their planning and now what they are trying to do is release water in a way so that the folks up above the dam don't get flooded. they have to do it quick enough so that those folks are okay. at the same time they can't do it so fast that the people below get inundated with water. so what is going on now is water preparation for haoes rising waters. for about a month now folks all over the communities in a flank the rivers here have been filling sandbags trying to get ready to protect their property. they say if there is a good thing in all this it's this. >> we knew kind of what we'll have to let through the system. there is no reason for loss of life, because people know what's coming. that is a blessing. it's not like joplin where the sirens went off and the tornado hit. we know what is going on and we can make sure the public is well informed and working with the local people to keep them out of harm's way. >> reporter: there are mandatory as well as voluntary evacuations underway. the governor of north dakota is telling folks, now is the time to calmly protect your property, get it ready and then get out. the river is rising, the water is coming and all you can do at this point is try to protect what you have, jon. jon: what a mess. alicia acuna thank you. jenna: new information on the trial of rod blagojevich the former illinois governor charged with trying to trade or sell president obama's former senate seat. we could be very close to a verdict. we'll be there with that. a state university had trouble explaining what happened to $50 million in federal and state funding. a government audit tracked down that money. we'll tell you where they found it. and rick is watching a whole bunch of of stories at the.com wall. >> reporter: these are stories we want the viewers at home to let us know which ones they care the most today. you can choose to mare more about the cold war era pink tank in eastern europe. we can tell you about the longest sushi roll in history. and big dough, we'll tell you why it's pink. and tim pawlenty joins us live when "happening now" returns right after this. s lara. her morng begins with arthritis pain. that's a coffee and two pills. the afternoon to begins with more pain and more pills. thevening guests arrive. back to sore knees. back to more pills. the day is done but hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. just 2 pills can keep arthritis pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is lara who chose 2 aleve and fewer pills for a day free of pain. and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. jon: new information on three crime stories we are watching for. it's day seven of jury deliberations in former governor rod black's corruption trial. he he denies any wrongdoing on charges he tried to sell the president's vacant senate seat. a new jersey college professor arrested and accused of running a prostitution website. police say he told him he didn't make money off the site and saw it as a hobby. and john edwards defense team in court today talk with prosecutors about evidence ahead of the former presidential candidate's trial on charges he violated campaign finance laws. jenna: america is asking and reporting your questions to the potential presidential candidates. we'll see what happens over the next couple of months. here now for our very first town hall is presidential candidate tim pawlenty, former governor of minnesota. governor about 20 minutes ago we weren't sure you were going to make it. thanks for hustling for us. >> 20 minutes ago i wasn't sure i would make it, jenna. the plane landed and i'm finally here. jenna: we appreciate it. i have a lot of questions from our viewers. i want to start off with the economy and the housing market. we just got this reading on home sales, it wasn't good yet again. the lowest reading we've had all year long. what is your plan for fixing the housing market? >> i think, jenna i have the most specific and aggressive plan of any candidate in the race, including president obama that i unveiled at his former place of employment, the university of chicago. it includes significant reductions in business taxes, individual taxes, other incentives to get healthcare reformed, energy reformed, government pensions reformed. all of the things, regulatory reform. all of the things our business leaders and job providers are saying we should do to get the economy moving again. if that happens that will put more money in people's pockets, more jobs will be available, they'll be better able to afford their mortgages down the road and get new mortgages down the road. jenna: let me get your thoughts on the specific policy, and how specifically it will help the housing market. the department of housing and urban development got a billion dollars from congress and it can be used to give out interest-free loans to those who are unemployed or on medical disability. it could help potentially about 30,000 families. if you were president would you continue that policy? >> well, i haven't had a chance to go through the administration's proposals or what they are going to do witness. if they are going to be required to spend it number one i would ask whether they should even be spending it. most of the administration's programs in terms of foreclosure avoid answer and delays haven't worked. the situation as the news reports this morning shows we still have big problems. if it is going to be used they should use it in a way that is effectively allowing people to refinance their homes under emergency or critical conditions. i would question whether the whole program will work. jenna: jenna: richard was writing in and he mentioned another governor, he said governor perry, he wanted your thoughts on governor perry. a whole bunch of our viewers have written in and wanted to know how you felt about former governor jon huntsman jumping in today, who do you think is the biggest competition. >> both of them are friends of mine, i served with them as governors. i consider them personal and professional friends. i welcome huntsman to the race. i look forward to dea big him down the road. i don't know if governor perry is going to get in the race or not. it's unclear if he is. if he does he'll bring something different to the table as we all do. i bring the best record on taxes and spending and conservative judicial appointments and the like. in terms of the current field right now mitt romney is the clear frontrunner, presumed frontrunner. for those of us who aren't as well-known i think there is a great opportunity to catch them and win the election. jenna: tom wrote to us if you were elected in your first 200 days in office what is the one bill you would want to see passed? >> i want to see a bill passed to get this economy moving and get the jobs growing. my economic plan to cut business taxes, cut individual taxes, get the economy moving through better energy and healthcare policies, those are the kind of chains we node to get the private economy going under my administration instead of the government economy under president obama's aa administration. he doesn't have an economic plan, all he has, jenna is a campaign plan, and it's not working. we gave him his chance, now it's time for a new direction and new president. jenna: there's been plenty of criticism of the president but also criticism of the pep party for not having enough new ideas for the economy. one of the things that has been pointed out is the recycling if you will of cutting taxes, and cutting taxes, and that being the magic bullet for the economy. what do you suggest for the economy and to fix the economy besides lowering taxes. >> when you talk not to the bureaucrats or to the president who has been in nonprofit sector his whole life, when you tab to people who actually start businesses, grow businesses and provide jobs, what they tell you is make it easier not harder. get the government off my back. so it's not just taxes, they also talk about streamlining and making easier the regular louisiana toro and permitting process. they talk about energy policies that would create more american supply as a way to pull down and stabilize prices and energy. they talk about making sure that we have a healthcare system that is not the a business malobamacare that will make it more expensive not less expensive. they want real reform in healthcare that will really retrain costs. it's not just about taxes, it's about other things. and lastly getting government spending under control. one of the thins that is scaring the markets and investors is government here's unwillingness to tackle this deficit, and the longer that drags off the less confidence people have in the future and that is not a good thing either. jenna: besides the economy also another topic that so many are talking about is afghanistan. and fred wrote in with this question. he said what happened to afghanistan, jenna? obviously he wants me to talk about this. we are expecting an announcement from the president about how many troops potentially he would withdraw from afghanistan over the next several months. if you were president what is your game plan and how many troops would you take out of afghanistan at this time? >> well let's remember why we're in afghanistan, which is we had individuals in groups there that planned and hatched the attack on our country of september 11th 2001 that killed nearly 3,000 of our fellow citizens. the invasion of afghanistan was justified. i supported president obama's decision to surge the troops. i wish he wouldn't have simultaneously announced a withdrawal deadline at the same time, i think that sends mixed signals. i think it is appropriate to revisit the policy now but it should be based on conditions on the ground not some trash pwa traeur repolitical timetable urbs know, leading up to the elections. jenna: you would not make an announcement now when it comes to an actual number. would you choose to make that announcement? >> i think it's appropriate for the president to make an announcement, but i think the number should be focused on conditions on the ground, and if it's a relatively small number and it points to a direction of a drawdown down the road based on conditions on the ground and focuses mostly on support personnel that may be appropriate. but if it's a big number based on political or arbitrary deadlines rather than what the mission rile is in afghanistan then i would be very concerned about that. jenna: final question for you here. there seems to be a little sparring now between candidates after that other debate we just had and a little bit of, i don't know if you'd call it, governor, a little bit of a battle about who is the most conservative of the republican candidates. i was just curious, what do you think defines a conservative republican candidate in 2012? what makes you a conservative. >> well, jenna there is third party validation of all of that. i'm the only candidate in the race who has an a grade from the kato institute which is a very conservative think tank. there are only four governors in the country who received that. i'm the only one of those four running for president. it's not just about what you talk about, it's what you got done. anybody can get up and give a speech about taxes, spending, healthcare, education, terrorism. the question is are you the kind of leader who has the fortitude to get it done and do you have the results to show that you've done it. in my case in minnesota i cut taxes, reduced spending historically. appointed conservative judges. did market based healthcare reform. did pension reform in the public sector before it was cool and popular. i don't just get up and talk about these things i did them in a very liberal place and that's a big thing in this case. jenna: we look forward to having you back again, sir, thank you very much. >> thank you, jenna. jon: they are still offering questions for the governor. jenna: and we'll still take them. jon: give them to all of the candidates. jenna: absolutely. jon: in the casey anthony trial defense attorneys are poking holes in the prosecution case for first-degree murder, or trying to any way. why the judge agreed to limit the number of witnesses they can call. and of course the overriding question, will casey anthony be forced to take the stand in her own defense? okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle -- 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild 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[ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! host: could switching to geico reon car insurance? or more host: do people use smartphones to do dumb things? man 1: send, that is the weekend. app grapgic: yeah dawg! man 2: allow me to crack...the bubbly! man 1: don't mind if i doozy. man 3: is a gentleman with a brostache invited over to this party? man 1: only if he's ready to rock! ♪ sfx: guitar and trumpet jam vo: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. but it's our job to mke them say something interesting. so how about this weekend we learn some new tricks of the trade... then break out our doing clothes and get rolling. let'sse some paint that helps us get the job done in record time and makes a statement when we're finished. we're lowering the cost of a new favorite color. more saving. more doi. that's the power of the home dot. glidden premium paint has been rat a best buy, and you can only get it at the home depot. jenna: a business alert for you now, apple is a company known for being incredibly creative, now dealing with a rare and especially aggressive attack from new malware affecting tens of thousands of macs. dennis neal is here. >> the mac is under attack. the outbreak of this malware started two months ago. on sunday it landed on the laptop of my 11-year-old dot. this is one of the first big assaults on apple which for years was inch vulnerable to hack attacks in part because mac's market share was so low that no selfrespecting hacker would bother witness. now apple is the hottest brand in the world and hackers are taking aim. the outbreak has been noted mostly on technical problems. it emerged in april as mac defender. lately it's known as mac shield. apple isn't talking much about it, though. it didn't issue any broad press release that i could find. it wouldn't answer most of my questions and declined my pleas for interviews. apple did put out a security patch at the end of may. that may be one of the first it has ever had to issue. when you search the apple web support site any mention of the malware does not show up at all. it showed up on my daughter's hard drive where it stored e rated porn sites. it told her the computer was infect -d and asked her for her password. this malware pretends to be there to fight off viruses while it's gleaning your credit card and password information. it is so brazen it tries to sell you virus protection software for $60. enter your credit card number and when you do it goes to sleep and then it waits to sting you again, jenna. jenna: what a story. what does a father do when their 11-year-old daughter shows them a mac and has all that garbage on the screen. >> the first thing you do is you've got to check the history and make sure that she didn't go visiting those sites, and she didn't. after that you call apple. they are good at support line help. they are not good at the public profile. they are not used to this. microsoft has been bashed by hackers for years and years and apple laughs at it. now that apple is the hot brand you'll see it get attacked more. jenna: we want an exclusive interview with your 11-year-old daughter as we continue to investigate. we'll continue to follow the story thank you very much. jon: also continuing to follow this case, and the judge in the casey anthony murder trial is once again taking anthony's attorney to task over evidence sharing, refusing to let an expert testify today because he didn't prepare a report, or share his opinion with the state. it comes as another defense witness tries to raise doubts about the prosecution's case, testifying that caylee anthony's body may have been placed in the woods while casey was actually in jail. let's talk about it with fred tisi a former defense attorney and mark iglarsh a former criminal attorney. you stay the state has not proved anything here. >> if you're asking if i think this woman killed this little girl the answer to that question is yes. there are huge, huge holes in the state's case, so big that if i was standing in the middle of the courtroom i'd be able to see cuba through them. the proeubs is that there's tremendous reasonable doubt. and i think the way to defend this case is to go after the weakness in the state's case. after you've tried a lot of cases you realize that less is more. pick that defense, throw them all this other stuff up on the board and seeing what sticks just today hraoudz the real defense that you need to remember. i don't think it's going to help. jon: mark, let's get your take on that. >> he's right but too late my friend. the defense didn't have fred advising them or me so they stood up in opening statement and to explain her pea czar behavior, all the lying, the partying when they are child either tragically drowned or went missing, they said, here is how it happened, so they shifted the burden over to the defense. and now the jurors are expecting them to prove it. there is no way for them to prove the accidental drowning theory and/or the alleged sexual molestation by her dad unless she testifies, and if she testifies adios, casey. jon: what about that, fred. a lot of people are wondering if she will take the sand. >> she testifies she goes down like a stack of sledge hammers. i agree with mark on that. you can't put or h-pb the stand. her credibility is so bad. she can't prove a darn thing. she can't prove the child drowned and she can't prove she was molested. there is no up side to putting her on. if you put her on the witness stand mark is right she goes down in flames. >> fred, how do you prove it? >> you don't prove it. you stand up in closing argument, mark, i say this all the time, when it comes time to eat manure you don't nibble. you stand up in closing argument, you tell the jury i told you this. that's not really what this case is about, you've seen no evidence about it. let's talk about the reasonable doubt. i've got news for you it's the lesser of two evils. jon: what about that testimony today from the botanical expert who said hey i think her body could have been there for as little as two weeks. >> i'm not concerned about that from the prosecutor's perspective. nobody can nail down exactly when it was there, when it wasn't. the defense has narrowed down the issue to the case as to how the child died. was it an accidental drowning or was it as the prosecution has alleged? and they've dug that hole for them, you know, and -- >> they have, but at the end of the day your job as a defense lawyer is to point to the reasonable doubt. and as much as it pains me. >> you are correct. >> there is no evidence that shows that casey killed the little girl. that's the problem with this case. nothing, not a fingerprint on the decal sheet, nothing. >> there are definitely challenges, without question that the prosecution has, without question there is insufficient evidence for them to find beyond a reasonable doubt that this was first-degree murder. jon: two experts say she should not get on the stand. we'll let you guys continue the argument after we are off. thanks. jenna: we have this fox news alert just into our newsroom, the president will address the nation tomorrow night 8:00pm eastern time. we will carry that address live. it is about the way forward in afghanistan. more details as we get them. jon: existing home sales, hitting a new low this year, falling 3.8%, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.81 million homes. that is far below the 6 million homes per year sold in a healthy housing market. brings us to part two of our new series, ten ways to save the economy. james rosen is live in washington with more. >> reporter: good afternoon. as so often with the economy, solutions for the slumping housing market turnsentiono on one's view of the effectiveness of government intervention. the depths of the problem are certainly not in doubt. one statistic tells the whole story, first-time home buyers, the kind who hire contractors to renovate homes, who spend heavily in their new neighborhoods, they made up only 35 percent of new home sales in may, they normally make up about 50 percent. president clinton's top economist told fox news the obama administration needs to give, quote, temporary support to those homeowners in danger of seeing their homes go under water, that is those about to see the money they owe on their home exceed the amount they paid for it. yet even this economist acknowledged problems with that approach: >> you create a lot of inic witnesses if you bail out one person and the other keeps his mortgage, so all the programs going back to the ones bush instituted and obama instituted turned out to be very hard to do anything to raise the state of the housing market. >> reporter: president obama has proposed dramatic changes to federal housing policy, including phasing out fannie mae and freddie mac. mr. obama intends to continue providing federal money to help low income borrowers so cure housing tion -- house, though and that greats on one conservative economist. >> as someone who lived in an apartment most of his life i have never understood where there's some sort of right to live in a house. when i was 50 -- i was 50 years old before i bought a house, why should i have to wait until i was 50 years old to buy a house and someone else in no better financial condition than i was before is supposed to be put into this house? >> reporter: since the obama administration launched a program to help homeowners with their mortgages, about 700,000 loans have been permanently modified but that's far fewer than analysts hoped for when the program started in 2009, jon. jon: james rosen, thank you. jenna: on the housing market, earlier we spoke to former administrator to the governor -- former governor tim pawlenty. >> any candidate in the race, including president obama, i unveiled the former place of employment, university of chicago, it includes significant reductions in business taxes, individual taxes, other incentives to get health care reform, energy reform, government pensions reformed, all of the things, regulatory reform, all of the things that business leaders and job providers are saying that we should do to get the economy moving again, and if that happens that will put more money into peoples' pockets, more jobs will be available, they'll be better able -- able to afford mortgages down the road and get new mortgages down the road. jenna: is that the key, is it about jobs? time for town hall u.s.a., america's asking. we're taking your questions to the experts, including brian montgomery who served as commissioner of the federal housing administration at hud, sam shannon of shannon economics and danny batt is real estate analyst and ceo of the batt group. danny, you heard what the governor had to say about his plans for housing had a great deal to do with people getting back to work. is that the number one key to solving the housing crisis? >> no. it's definitely a key component to solving the housing crisis. nine out of ten home loans in the u.s. are actually being backed by the united states government, so if the fed doesn't back it, the banks aren't lending for it. that's going to be a really big problem when investors don't know what the tax policy is, they're not willing to step back into an unstable market and provide different types of loan options that will allow people to get back into the market and purchase or refinance their home. jenna: brian, given what jenny said, what is the proper role of the government in this, is the government too involved in the housing market at this point, are they not enough involved? what is the right role? >> you've got the federal housing administration and fanny and freddie, the government technically controls about 90 percent of the mortgage market. i think both parties are in agreement that we need to get the government out of the mortgage market, but the key, the devil in the details is certainly how do we get there. you have a lot of borrowers obviously looking for help, but the bush administration, obama administration, offer programs such as hamp, launched a homeowners system quead, but by in large, i agree with governor pawlenty, one way to get us in the right direction is economic growth and that's we haven't seen a lot of. jenna: the program was brian was mentioning, sam, is this program where we learned that hud has a billion dollars to give out in no interest loans to folks unemployed for a long time, or those on medical disability, that, again, was just launched this week. we have a lot of questions from viewers, with programs like this, folks like glen want to know what do we do if you're under water as far as your mortgage and it seems like most people are these days. >> we've had programs already in place designed to help people who price be -- might be short on making payments or hardest hit but the participation rate on the programs is low because there are real complexities around who qualifies. this new program, is designed really to deal with emergency situation, the emergency homeowner loan program that as you mentioned jenna was just announced yesterday. there's a very short window here where homeowners who may be unemployed have just until mid to late july to take advantage of this program, put their application in. in part because the government's authority to administrator this program is going to expire. so folks do have to act very quickly. i think the expectations are actually fairly modest, given the time frame, given what we've seen with these other programs, for the level of participation. what we do know is these kinds of programs are really only going to help us on the margin. at the end of the day we need greater confidence, we need greater job growth, we need greater economic growth to ultimately spur a move back into homeownership and stabilization of the housing market. jenna: brian, getting back to that relationship between the government and the people in the housing market, kathy says point me to a place in the constitution that says the federal government should be involved in the housing market in the first place. brian, is it realistic to think the federal government maybe someday will not be involved at all in the housing market? >> let's go back a little. this month happens to be the 77th anniversary of the federal housing administration. the reason the fha was created was housing was probably the last biggest problem around the great depression. during that time, fha has helped over 40 million people buy their first home. by the way, most are first-time home buyers. having said that, fha has another role, that's a counter cyclical role, and we've been seeing it a lot quite frankly in the last several years. wasn't that long ago that fha's market share was 2 percent or 3 percent, now on this the origination side, it's 20-30 percent. we're in agreement we need to draw that down, but the road map to how we get there, especially given the fact that borrowers would like to refinance or under water and can't get out from that loan or they want to move to where jobs are if they can't get out of the current house they're in, it remains a perplexing poob. jen general it seems like a complex problem. danny wants to know why does it feel so bad foreclosure the economy is getting better, why does the housing market feel like it's not catching up? >> the housing market is not catching up. there are 11.3 million homeowners under water and even the modification programs have a 43 percent default rate. if you take consumer confidence, the inability for people to take equity, lead, and trade up homes, which was a very strong source of home sales, and you take first time home buyers that are very afraid, despite what nar said that, it was storm-related, people are afraid to buy a home. it could be years, decades, before the housing prices have stabilized again, given the job market. and if you take all of that and you look at the number of people that are under water on their homes, can't refinance and can't move, you have every reason to not be wanting -- not be initiating home purchases right now. it's not going to recover for some time. jenna: we'll see what kind of proposals, again, the folks in washington come up with. right now, we certainly, i guess we need them look at some of the data, thank you very much to you all, we appreciate you participating in that our town hall today. jon: a fox news alert. according to the associated press, newt gingrich's campaign for the white house is taking another big hit. his two top financial guys apparently are resigning. according to the a.p. now, joy thomas, fundraising director, and fundraising consultant mary hiteman have left the team and the a.p. says gingrich's spokesman has confirmed that. the report from the a.p. is that gingrich's campaign has been struggling to raise money, and has actually been spending a fair amount of money on things like travel. again, it was just earlier that 16 of his top political advisers left. newt gingrich's campaign, apparently struggling. we'll be right back . flurk flurk >> hi everyone, coming up on "america live", is the dnc using the white house to fundraise? congressman issa thinks so. he's holding a hearing on capitol hill and we'll bring you the latest. also president bill clinton has just released 14 ways to put americans back to work. is president obama listening? the marriage between 51-year-old actor doug hutchison and his 16-year-old girlfriend is raising eyebrows and it's not just because of their age gap. we'll see you in 13 minutes. on jon we're just getting word about a retirement from the astronaut corps. >> commander mark kelly, the husband of wounded congresswoman gabrielle giffords, taking to tas book today to announce that effective october 1st, he is retiring from the u.s. military, and also, from nasa. commander kelly, fresh off of the shuttle endeavor's final mission, wrote on his facebook page, as life takes unexpected turns, we frequently come to a crossroads. i'm not at this point today. gabrielle is working hard every day on her mission of recovery. i want to be by her side, stepping aside from my work in the navy and nasa will allow me to be with her and with my two daughters, commander kelly, who flew combat missions in operation desert storm, by the way, says that he may once again sometime in the future look for ways to serve our country, after some time off. he says that he'll look for more opportunities, we think, been -- and we thank him for his service up to now and we wish him and his family the very best. jon: very patriotic resignation statement from him. interesting reading. thanks rick. jenna: summer is here, in fact it is the very first day of summer. very first. before you let your kids jump into the pool, you need to hear a new warning. we have that for you, just ahead. jon: smell that? it's summer in the air. summer officially begins in 30 minutes. before you let your child play in a portable pool, a new study finds one child drowns every five days in one of those pools. what are some of the things you can do this summer to keep your child safe? study -- this study's senior author is with us, dr. gary smith of nationwide children's hospital. age two, i guess, is the primary age for drowning. >> is this true? >> yes, it is. this study found over 90 percent of children that drowned in pools were under the age of five, so this is a problem for very young children. 3/4 of the injuries are occur to go children in their own back yard and as you mentioned, during the summer months, a child dies every five days from drowning in a portable pool. jon: we think of in ground pools as having a risk but the portable pools that generally sit above the ground, they somehow seem safer because the kid is not going to fall in. >> one of the take-home messages to parents from this study is that portable pools present a very similar drowning risk to children as in ground pools, and unlike in ground pools where they may spend a lot of time thinking about safety, a portable pool may be spontaneous, they put it in the back yard, summer is here, you fill it up and before you know, kids are using it. you want to make sure you watch the kids carefully and understand there are risks of drowning. i don't know jon because you're an expert on childhood injuries, you put together tips on keeping kids safe and falls are a big problem. you suggest that any time you can reduce the risk of falls, you want to be sure to do so. >> absolutely. in fact, falls, year round, are the leading cause of emergency department visits for children, and well into the adult years. any time a child it is on playground equipment, parents should be sure the surface underneath is cushioned either with wood chips or a rubberized surface because that's going to cushion the fall if they should fall from the equipment. also, bicycle, scooters, in line skates, any team they're wearing wheels on a hard sur farks they should be wearing helmets, it can decrease brain injury by 90 percent. jon: one thing i hadn't thought of, you start using pesticides, things like that, in the summer months. >> the main group we worry about are very young children. they have large surface areas, they can absorb things through their young skin, so this is something we need to think about, especially for infants and very young toddlers. jon: back to the point we started with, any water can be dangerous, a kid can drown in just a couple of inches. a final point, another interesting thought, you want to watch your fire pit or grill, because kids can really get burned on these things. >> in the back yard this time of year a lot of people are barbecuing and that's a hot surface children may not realize can burn them in a matter of seconds, so good parental supervision around barbecues this time of year is important. coming back to your point about the children and drowning, i tell parents that drowning is quick, it's silent, and it's final. it can happen in a matter of minutes, in only a few inches of water. jon: one of our chatters had it happen to him. i can't imagine. i remember my youngest fell into a pool one time when i was sitting right there and it was a very scary thing. >> thank you very much. jon: thank you for being here. jenna: it's a disturbing new study on how employers are plan to go cover the cost of the health care overhaul, how the changes affect your bottom line. >> and the must-see moment of the day, chosen by you, the viewers. 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