0 sides of the aisle. hello. i'm uma pemmaraju. america's news headquarters live from the nation's capitol starts right now. ♪ ♪ >> uma: we begin with the newscast with news of a developing story, information on that massive manhunt underway in idaho. this, after amber alerts across the west coast are raising new concerns for the safety of 16-year-old hannah anderson. her alleged captor, 40-year-old jim dimaggio shifted to a remote part of the state where the two are believed to be trekking through the wilderness. this news as authorities confirm that a second body found inside dimaggio's burnt california home is now identified as that of hannah's 8-year-old brother ethan anderson. earlier in week, her mother's body was also found inside that house. will carr is following the latest development on this story and is joining us live now from l.a. will? >> reporter: hi, uma. did not appear that hannah was being held against her will. a short time later authorities swarm the area and they ended up finding dimaggio's car, the blue nissan versa you have seen on all the amber alerts. they tell us the license plate had been taken off and the car was covered in brush. i appeared that dimaggio may have been rying to hide the car. they were able to identify it as his car from the vin number. they tell us no explosives were found in the car. it's been a big concern that dimaggio may have homemade bombs on himself. so the search continues today. more than 100 law enforcement agents in that area looking for dimaggio and hannah. at the same time last night, near hannah's home, near san diego, there was a vigil held. family and friends showed up. they're hoping and they are praying that this will all come to a safe conclusion. and that hannah will return safely and that authorities can find them in idaho. >> uma: will carr, thank you for the update. turning now to other news, is the i.r.s. rewarding bad instead of signing an immigration bill, the president is talk about the nsa leaker edward snowden. peter doocy is joiningnous with reaction to president obama's plan, to reform domestic surveillance. hello. >> hello, uma. president obama now has a four-point plan he says will show americans they don't need to worry anymore about the nsa's surveillance program invading their privacy. >> as i said, this program is an important tool in our effort to disrupt terrorist plots. and it does not allow the government to listen to any phone calls without a warrant. but given the scale of this program, i understand the concerns of those who would worry that it could be subject to abuse. >> so point number one on the president's plan. work with congress to fix the patriot act; specifically, the part with the phone records, section 215. number two, figure out how to make fisa courts pay more attention to civil liberties. would probably get people in big trouble. what is your reaction to the news that the president made about the investigation so far? >> i'm glad he is speaking about it. it's been quite some time since we had that tragedy. there has been a lot of things that have been done. if they had come out honestly and openly in the beginning we never would have been in the situation to continuously hold hearings to find out what really happened. an indictment is great. i'm a firm believer in transparency. we should know who they are going after, why they're going after them and where they are in the process. >> uma: let me interrupt you for a moment. i want to interrupt this conversation for a moment to take our viewers out to florida. where president obama is speaking to a crowd of veterans, disabled and other veterans there before jetting off on a vacation to martha's vineyard later today. he is speaking to thousands of those american veterans national convention in orlando. he is expected to explain his plan to solve america massive backlog of american veterans claims and while he enjoys time off, more than 700,000 veterans veterans veterans will be waiting for their benefit. the administration is claiming there is a 20% reduction in the backlog, but as far as i understand it, senator, you find fault with that. of the tell me arrest -- tell me more about this. >> i was on the veterans committee and i'm still serving in the pentagon right now as a colonel. the backlog is monumental. there is another million plus veterans coming online. they are just overwhelmed. there may have been a reduction, and that is a great thing, but we need to do more. the soldiers should not be released from active duty until they have a full evaluation as to mental and physical state to determine what they can and can't do in the military. we should also if they are, in fact, discharged, we should be using the private healthcare providers to assist them in the effort. you are looking at over a year to sometimes over 400 days until somebody gets their issue resolved. what is unacceptable. that is leading to suicides, that is leading to depression and other illnesses. it's ultimately costing us more to actually handle the problem if we did it in the beginning right away. >> uma: i want to remind our viewers if they want to see the president's entire speech we are going to be streaming that speech now on foxnews.com. as we continue our conversation, senator, i want to talk to you a little bit more about this in the sense that you talk about the backlog and how many days, sometimes years it can take to get some of the benefits to those who richly deserve them. why do we continually hear the need to fix this problem at a time when so many people like yourself and the president now outspoken about that saying we have to fix the system? why is it taking so long? >> that is a question of the day, uma. i can tell you, we had many, many hearings and listening to the head of v.a., it was almost humorous in the fact that they kept saying oh, we're getting to it, we're going to do it, with we're going to do it. but ultimately it was never getting done. there is frustration with congress and with soldiers and their families, obviously. there is a certain amount of frustration with the v.a. they received more funds and received more people. they received the computer programs that they need. so where is the breakdown? i think we immediate to get in and really make a massive push. once and for all and find out exactly what they need for pools and resources and do it. i commend the president for signing hire a hero bill. there are initiatives to help get veterans employed and re-employed. that is a good thing. but the key right now is to get the people back both physically an mentally. they're not doing it right way. they need to do better. >> uma: we really do. more needs to be done to help those who put their lives on the line for our freedom. thank you for that. i want to ask you a little bit more about benghazi to get back on that subject while i have you here. for a while, it seemed that fox news was alone in the effort to investigate details of what actually happened in benghazi. now we're finally seeing more mainstream media asking the white house, very serious and tough questions. do you think the president is trying to get ahead of this now and show the public that the folks vince put the investigation on the back burner, even though we now know that one of the attackers could have been picked up in plain sight months ago? >> listen, there is a lot of covering your backside with the administration right now. they made tremendous mistakes. susan rice would have been the secretary of state had she done things differently and let the public know what was going on differently. i know when i participated in the hearings, they were like pulling teeth. you couldn't get a straight answer from then secretary clinton and her team on any of the issues. that is why you have senator mccain and yot yot and -- mccain and ayotte and others demanding the right to know. the families have a right to know. we need to make sure how it doesn't happen again. where is the breakdown. could we have a quick reaction force come in and offer assistance? we're not getting the answers. we are still not getting answers. president is trying to get ahead of it but it's too late because the american public lost trust with the president and his administration on this issue in particular. >> uma: scott brown, great to see you. thank you for joining us today. appreciate it. >> okay. thank you, uma. to defund obamacare? yes or no? [ applause ] >> uma: okay. that is north carolina republican robert pittinger who is getting heat from the might bees of the tea party over the stance he has no plans to vote to defund obamacare. defunding obamacare is part of the continuing resolution that is being fueled by tea party favorite senators mike lee, ted cruz, and marco rubio. congressman pittinger and other republicans say voting against obamacare in this instance could shut down the government. added to this, the congressman cosponsored a dozen bills that involve repealing it in some way. so how far is actually enough? joining us now, congressman pittinger who is joining us to explain why he is against what the tea party wants that time. welcome, congressman. nice to have you here today. >> good afternoon, uma. >> uma: i know some say you are not at the top of the hit parade for tea party supporters in your state. let me ask you first why you have decided not to vote to defund obamacare right now? >> well, i absolutely agree with their concerns. we should be livid about what is taking place with obamacare. the government takeover. the democrats, senator max baucus said it's a train wreck. i have primary sponsor or cospon or vote against 15 bills against obamacare. we need to defund it and change it and reform it. we need a free market healthcare system. the present plan with obamacare has cost jobs. employers are not hiring. >> uma: all right, so i understand that you are saying you voted for bills to repeal obamacare and try to get it off the books. but the bottom line is right now you are not going to vote against it. as many of your colleagues would like you to and many tea party supporters are asking you to. do you really believe that the government is going to get shut down if the resolution goes through? >> well, it will require 60 votes in the senate. right now they have 15. there is not any interest on the part of the president, his signature legislation, harry reid is not going to allow this to happen, to defund obamacare. what will happen if we make this the requirement, to not raise the debt ceiling, result to shut down the government, obamacare and the mandtory funding will continue and stay intact with all the rules and the regulations, the requirements, the timetables. what won't happen is the soldiers around the world, defending our freedoms right now won't get a paycheck. >> uma: your critics are arguing against that saying that is not going to happen. and you know, you yourself, know, sir, many in the public have not been happy with the implementation of obamacare so far. in fact, if you take a look at a recent fox news poll, you can see that 57% of the public thinks it's a joke. are you willing to risk more division within the g.o.p. if you continue to go against efforts to block obamacare? even if it doesn't move in the senate, there are those who say the g.o.p. has to stand together on this one in order to show that it is serious about trying to defund or stan together on the particular issue that is so important to so many folks. >> we are standing together. we were effective. no budget, no pay. we forced the democrats, shamed them to finally passing a budget. the first time they passed one in four years. we required automatic spending cuts. we have succeeded in our strategy. let's be smart. you can talk to comments or both side of the aisle. peter orsag, the chief budget writer. erskine-bowles, i have known for 20 years. they will tell you to go after the retirement, medicare. it would be insolvent. that's realistic approach to bring savings. >> i appreciate it. i'm up against a hard break but i appreciate your insight. we'll follow your story closely. thank you. >> very good. >> uma: icy relationship goes in to the deep freeze. two congressional lawmakers laws will be weighing in on what is next in the current chill between the u.s. and russia in the wake of the asylum given to the nsa leaker edward snowden. staying put in putin's backyard. it's been a month since the horrific scene which saw the death of 19 members of the heroic firefighting squad known as the hot shots. arizona has been asking for the fed to accept in an offer up some help. that state just turned back. the answer is upsetting. the maimages are compelling -- the images are compelling as hundreds of people confront the terrifying colorado flood. we'll bring you an update after the break. stay with us. ♪ (tires screeching) red hot deal days are back. 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