gave him his name. that went nowhere. police took him to his local hotel where people vouched for him. that's him. he says he was killing time before a local show checking out a local neighborhood. officers say they thought he might have wandered away from a local hospital, but then again, dylan always looks like that. [captioning made possible by fox news channel] martha: we start with some breaking weather news. in the atlantic ocean, hurricane bill is gaining strength. the latest advisory from the national hurricane center is just in. this thing is just now shy of a category two. >> let's get to janice dean. she is in the fox weather center for us now. that's a bit some annissa, isn't it, janice? there is a lot of water to cover between where that storm is right now and the u.s. coastline. >> that's a good point. we have five days, in fact, to watch this storm. not a -- a lot of forecasters are writing this off. they say it looks like it will move toward bermuda. a lot can happen. we saw claudette form like that in the gulf of mexico. if you weren't watching the television this weekend, you didn't see the three named storms that happened. so anything can happen when you have got that much warm water ahead of you. this storm is rapidly intensifying. this is going to be a category three very quickly. almost a category two. let's zoom in. you can really see the colder cloud tops, the deeper oranges. there you can see that eye right there. so we're entering a phase of rapid intensification. there is no reason why we couldn't see a category three or higher. here is the current forecast. as of 11:00 from the national hurricane center. again, a category one but very quickly becoming a two. then we go further out in time. we have this cone of uncertainty. a lot of variables here. we have a lot of warm water to travel. we have a lot of days out, depending on the strength of this storm. we have a trough that's going to dip south and east that we think is going to pick up this storm and make it sort of brush close to bermuda, but like i said if that trough isn't strong enough, if the storm is weaker, there is a lot of things we have to take into account. five days out is not a sure thing. so the east coast needs to be on guard and the gulf of mexico as well. there are some of the forecast models that we are looking at. again, five days out, seven days out. this is going to change. so we want to make sure that everyone is making their preparations right now. we had three storms form this weekend just like that. so a lot of folks need to be watching. this is claudette, tropical depression claudette. we could see 3-5 inches of heavy rain. of course ana is out there also starting to weaken. so we will keep you up to date, guys. we really need to monitor this storm, bill, which will be a category three in the next 12-24 hours. bill: janice, help us keep an eye on it. >> you bet i will. bill: the white house is making some changes to its website after fox news revealed the obama administration was sending unsolicited emails to private citizens about its health care reform plans. it all started on thursday when our senior white house correspondent major garrett first asked about the brewing controversy. take be a listen. >> do you in any way seek databaseses or information about people who might be interested in health care? >> i will certainly check. i am not under that impression. >> i would like to know how they got an email from the white house when they never asked for one. >> i would be interested to see who you got that email from and whether or not they are on the list. bill: the white house finally offering a response last night indicating third party groups might have been responsible for placing some names into email addresses on the white house distribution list. the statement reads in part -- bill: major garrett is live at the white house to untangle all of this for us. major, what's the latest? >> the latest is this, john. the white house has made a couple of changes overnight to its contact us section of the website. if you go to the white house website and go to the contact us section, you will find two things this morning that you didn't find last night. one is a check box where you can opt out of receiving any emails from the white house even though you're commenting to the white house on any given topic. previously, if you sent a comment in, you would probably receive an email from the white house even if you didn't want one. there is a read-in vare fire. you see it in the lower left-hand corner of the screen. that's the squiggly letters there. frequently if you go on a website to buy tickets for a sporting event or concert, you have to do that read-in vare fire to verify your intention. if you don't want to receive emails or even if you do, you have to type in that vare fire to confirm your own personal interest in either not receiving an email or receiving one. as a matter of principal, john, i suppose the third party groups which the white house theorizes put a lot of email addresses on their list that were not meant to be there. i have talked to some internet professionals who say what there should be is a specific opt-in dimension that's linked to an email address, meaning you have to opt in yourself personally. if you don't, you can't receive an email. so far the white house hasn't gone to that length to protect its own website from this kind of spamming context that it theorizes groups are responsible for. we'll bring you updates should there be more of them. john: on the health care front, major, there was this question about health and human services director cat len sebelius. she seemed to suggest over the weekend that government-run health care might not be happening or at least the option of dropping that proposal might be amenable to the white house. what's the reaction? >> well, senior administration officials -- and i have talked to a couple of them this morning, say look, even though the president in a radio address much earlier in the health care debate said the public option which is a government-run component to challenge and work in the marketplace alongside private insure he is must be in the final bill. now it's one of the potential elements that can reach the overall goal of bringing down costs and expanding coverage. what secretary sebelius said yesterday is it wasn't an essential element meaning other elements might be pursued. the reality is this, john, legislatively the government option or this public-run component is losing steam, generally and specifically, and the center of gravity for this legislative debate which has been in the finance committee and it appears that all we're waiting for is a suitable legislative burial. the white house will not say anything about that until that happens, but it appears this component of health care reform is losing steam in one part because of the vociferous curiosity and in some cases opposition to it visible at many town halls across the country. bill: thank you. >> senator arlen specter is back in the thick of it. he of course is the newly turned democrat from pennsylvania. he got hammered last week. you may have seen some of the loudier town halls like this one. take a look. >> you're welcome to go. now, wait a minute, now, wait a minute. now, wait a minute. >> wait a minute. wait a minute. he has a right to leave. >> what is the situation like today? david lee miller is in philly for us today. what has the atmosphere been like, david? >> jane, you know philly is called the city of brotherly love. today it was called that for very good reason. there was nothing but an orgy of goodwill at this town hall meeting. senator specter was drawn by the veteran administration secretary. at the end of the town hall meeting, they actually got a standing ovation. from just about one hour, the two men took questions. most of them dealt with benefits relating to benefits for veterans' affairs. there were three questions directed at health care reform, but no one at any time raised his or her voice. the senator later said, jane, that perhaps the tone was different today because as he observed there were no demonstrators that were bused in. by and large, this is a very quiet meeting, but this controversy continues as do the town hall meetings. jane? jane: david, was there a conversation today with the senator about the reports that the administration was going to maybe take out the public option, drop the option of government-run health care and maybe this morning oops, the health and human services secretary may have misspoken about that? >> well, it didn't come up during the actual town hall itself, but after the town hall meeting, senator specter held a very brief news conference. i specifically asked him about the public option. he told me point blank i still support the public option, even if support for it is to some extent eroding. when i asked him specifically again to what extent he thinks there may be some type of erosion, he said that he still believes there is support for it and it's just too soon to tell how successful the public option component might be. here now the senator's own words. >> it's too soon to make any evaluation as to the public response. the senate hasn't even brought a bill and the house hasn't brought a bill to the floor so it's much too soon to make an evaluation. let's see what we produce by way of a bill. >> and the senator again, jane, he underscored the fact that in his view health care reform is critical. an important component of that is the public option. one thing he says he is going to continue to fight for is bipartisan support to move health care reform forward. jane? jane: david lee miller in philadelphia for us. david, thank you. let's get to california now. the fire burning in the santa cruz mountains. this morning still only half contained. some residents, though, there are being allowed to return to their homes for the first time since that mandatory evacuation order. this fire started on wednesday. it's already burned 10 square miles. about 400 homes in the nearby community of swanton are still evacuated at this hour. john: a two-year drought has turned texas into the state with the most wildfires now. fire season started a month early there, burning most homes, barns, and other buildings in texas history. firefighters from 23 states are pitching in to battle those fires in central and south texas. jane: breaking news from moscow at this hour. officials there are now confirming that a russian cargo ship that had been missing for more than three weeks, it has been found. they are telling us it's off the west coast of africa. the crew of the arctic sea is alive. they have been taken off the freighter about 300 miles from the cape verde islands. a live report on the disappearance of this ship that was a mystery for weeks and what we know at this point. let's coming up with dana lewis in a couple of minutes. john: harris faulkner has word of a police officer shot. >> this is happening in south rockwood, michigan. monroe county sheriff's departments have confirmed that an officer has been shot. let's go right now to the live pictures that are just coming into our newsroom right now. there are several e.m.s. units there on the scene. according to neighbors, they are in a fullout manhunt now looking for the suspect in this neighborhood. it happened just a short time ago, in fact, about 20 minutes ago. the department is not releasing any other information at this time. i want to get on the phone and see what else i can find out about the manhunt portion of this. a lot of times they will tell us those details so people will be on the lookout. they may not confirm for me the condition of that officer. that's information that sometimes they will stick very close to the vest on with that police officer who is down right now. carrollton, rock road road in south rockwood, michigan. as i learn more, of course i'll bring it to you. those are live pictures coming to you from the scene. jane: a senior defense official is calling the situation on the ground in afghanistan winnable. what do our forces need to do to finish the job? 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(voice 3) great exercise guys. let's run it again. you all want to run your businesses more efficiently, so we've brought in a team of experts to help. one suggestion is to make your shipping more efficient with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. call or go online for a free supply and up to $160 in offers from authorized postage vendors. shipping's a hassle! weighing every box... actually, with flat rate boxes you don't need to weigh anything under 70 pounds. if it fits, it ships for a low flat rate. ok, but i ship all over the country. you can ship anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. ship international, too. yes, but i ship hundreds of things, in all sizes. great, because flat rate boxes come in four sizes. call and we'll send a free supply, plus up to $160 in offers. when you're ready to ship, we'll even pick them up for free, no matter how many you have. priority mail flat rate boxes only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. call or go online now to get started. jane: a couple things we're watching at this hour. one is the dow. down almost 200 points this morning. there was a selloff overseas. we'll talk about that more in a few minutes. also some new developments at this hour. in a deadly fire at a wedding in kuwait, there is word that a suspect has confessed, saying he set the fire for personal reasons. newspapers there reporting that the groom's ex-wife was somehow involved. this was horrendous. 43 women and children were killed, 52 other people are still in the hospital. it's not clear if the bride is among the dead or the injured at this point. kuwaitis celebrate weddings in separate parties for men and women with children attending the women's event. the fast-moving flames in this thing consumed the entire women's tent in just three minutes' time, and the bodies that were left behind were so charred they were basically unrecognizable. the fire chief there is calling it the worst disaster he has seen in four decades on the job. jon: there is a brand-new assessment just out on the war in afghanistan. it comes from the british defense secretary. this as u.s. marines try to root out taliban fighters from the southern part of that country. the u.k. defense chief now says progress is underway and that the war in afghanistan is winnable. connor powell is live for us from kabul. connor, the u.s. marines have this big operation underway in helman province. what kind of progress are they making? give us an update. >> well, jon, you won't hear many military officers talk about winning, but they do believe they are making real progress down in helman. about six weeks ago, the marines launched this massive assault. they don't control all of the area, but there are large population centers which they do now control. they say they are making progress, engaging with the locals and rooting out the taliban. in some areas they think they have pushed the taliban out completely. fighting has been very supported i can. at times it has been very intense down there as marines have literally gone from compound to compound, door to door trying to root out the taliban. they are hoping they can push the taliban out, and then they will engage with the local community, finding out what local village elders need in terms of rebuilding roads, schools, and removing i.e.d.'s. it's a very difficult task but one that they think they are making a lot of improvements on. jon? jon: i know they went into helman because there were elections upcoming. does it mean they have cleared enough of the taliban out that people are going to be able to vote? and when does that happen? >> there are still parts of helman that are very much controlled by the taliban. even the places where the marines now control, much of it is so remote and so badly damaged after years of fighting down there that the election commission here in afghanistan says many of the main points -- polling stations won't open. it's unlikely that most of helman will be taking part in thursday's election. >> i know that the taliban is pushing back, though. there was a huge attack in kabul over the weekend. overall in afghanistan, what's the cluret situation like? >> well, the city of kabul and the entire country is bracing for more attacks. days of attacks. we're just getting reports that just outside of kabul near the airport that there were several rockets being launched. saturday's attack rather broke about six months of relative stability here in the capital city. the taliban is threatening to -- to attack all over the country. yes, saturday's attack is sort of evidence that their reach is all encompassing. it hit one of the main nato headquarters. they are trying to basically say they can hit anywhere, even western facilities. jon? jon: connor powell streaming live from afghanistan. thanks. jane: we're continuing to watch these pictures coming to us out of south rockwood, michigan. that's monroe county. we're learning that an officer, a cop has been shot there and there are several e.m.s. units on the scene. you're looking at a chopper shot here. we can assume potentially they are looking for the attacker at this point. we're waiting to get more details. an officer down in monroe county, michigan. also watching the health care debate which is changing a little bit this morning. one of the most controversial parts of the plan, of course, is this government-run health insurance option that's out there. a member of the president's cabinet over the weekend said you know what, it's not really an essential part of the legislation. it doesn't have to be in there. that's cat len sebelius, health and human services secretary. what is the white house saying about what she said this morning? developments, wait until you hear. to demonstrate the allergen trappers in pledge, we've trapped kimberly in this glass box... with all this dust. well, it's only dust. in that dust are allergens from pet dander and dust mites. eww! pledge with allergen trappers... traps up to 84% of allergens in dust. 84%? that's... nothing to sneeze at? yeah... no. that's great. allergen trappers. that's the beauty of pledge®. also available in wipes. s.c. johnson. a family company. jon: government-run health insurance. once the centerpiece of president obama's health care reform plan, but with opposition growing, several democratic leaders now say they are ready to move forward without that part of the plan. >> he continues to be very supportive of some options for consumers. what we don't know is exactly what the senate finance committee is likely to come up with. they have been more focused on a co-op, not for profit co-op as a competitor, as opposed to a straight government-run program, and i think what's important is choice and competition. and i'm convinced at the end of the day the plan will have both of those. but that is not the essential element. jon: that's kathleen sebelius, secretary of health and human services speaking there. let's talk about it with scott stanzel, former dep