take. so put it to congress to pass laws that you can retroactively call someone back. >> harris: what say you, kayleigh, you said they waited until today to fire people. wow. that's gonna do it for us. here's america reports. >> thank you, harris. bombshell allegations in final days much the trump presidency. milley called chinese officials and promised to warn them of a potential attack. good afternoon, on a busy wednesday afternoon, i'm sandra smith, hello, john.

>> john: i'm john roberts in washington. new book claims milley placed two separate calls to china, one just days before and the second on january 8th following the capitol rights. milley believed china could feel at risk from unpredictable president. if the u.s. decided to attack. >> another allegation describes speaker nancy pelosi calling general milley after the capitol riots pleading for him to protect the nuclear code from former president trump. migey agreed and took steps to limit then president trump's powers. >> john: we're learning general milley didn't go alone and mark esper made steps, too. jennifer griffin is live with more on this unfolding tale.

jennifer. >> jennifer: defense officials say the two claims in the woodcard and costa book are not accurate. the two calls made to the chinese by general milley were not secret, they were done with defense secretary at the time, general milley spokesman for the joint staff, dave butler, issued following statement moments ago. "his calls with the chinese and others in october and january were in keeping with duties and responsibilities conveying reassurance to maintain strategic stability. all calls from the chairman to his counterparts are staff coordinated and communicated with the department of defense and the interagency. general milley continues to act and advise within his authority in the lawful tradition of civilian control of the military and his oath to the constitution." i spoke to a senior trump official who told me the phone

call to the chinese was done after then defense secretary mark esper respected his policy people to do the same. it was designed to lower the temperature and prevent the u.s. and china from stumbling into a conflict. u.s. intelligence suggested chinese were jumpy about all the noise coming out of washington surrounding the election. no time did general milley promise to give the chinese a heads-up if the u.s. planned to strike, i'm told. there were 15 people present during the two video teleconference calls, one in october and one after the january 6 riot, including notetakers. i'm told by u.s. command sources that then defense secretary mark esper was so concerned about not spooking the chinese, he asked for delay in sending significant number of ships and war planes to the region around the time of the election for a december exercise. the pentagon did not want to demonstrate aggressiveness or

passivity and maintain stability through the inauguration. according to another senior defense official reporting about nuclear weapons is "even more ridiculous," speaker pelosi called general milley two days after the january 6 riot. we reported that at the time. she was worked up and screaming for milley to take the nuclear football away from the president. general milley i'm told was trying to calm her and kept reassuring nancy pelosi it was fine, we have procedures, checks and balances and proceeded to talk through with members of the joint staff and those in the chain of command so everybody knew their role in the events of such a call for use of nuclear weapons. that is something they do periodically, it is like a fire drill in the pentagon. john. >> john: adding important perspective. thanks. sandra. >> sandra: bring in "washington

post" columnist mark, you will add more perspective on ongoing story, we're following every detail. i want to get this in off the top, jen psaki was just pressed about this, will milley face consequences if the claims are true. here is the exchange. listen. >> does the president feel these calls are appropriate, does he have confidence in the chair chairman: and some called for the k45ir78 to be dismissed, will he keep his job? >> i saw the statement that the joint chief spokesperson just released minutes ago, i will not add more, speak to anonymous reports with limited context from here. >> sandra: not sure what that tells you, do you believe that he will eventually face consequences as result of what learning here? >> he ms. a lot of questions to answer. general milley was a source for the woodward-costa book because

he thought it would make him look good. he shared certain information or his allies did, with woodward and costa and it's backfired on him and he's back pedalling, as you can see from the reporting, they are trying to put out fires they set. here is the thing, jennifer reported 15 people in the room, notetakers, release the notes, release the transcript. president trump released his transcript of the phone call with president of ukraine. why not release those two phone calls and we'll have an answer. here is the thing that bothers me most about this, it is cheer general milley was trying to present himself as adult in the room, hold the whole thing together and prevent the president the from doing stupid stuff. esper is gone in the biden administration, why wasn't there

an adult in the room then? he was focused on the threat donald trump posed he was going to start nuclear war with chinaa, that is ridiculous, he wasn't going to start a nuclear war with china. joe biden presided over the worst debacle in my lifetime, where was milley then? he convinced -- >> sandra: pause for a second, jen psaki is taking a question from jacqui heinrich, let's listen. >> well, again, this is why i provided the context, right? what we're talking about here, one, let me restate again, range of reports in this book, anonymous, unconfirmed. i realize that the department of defense or spokesperson put out a statement. if you look at the statement, that is about what the normal channel of communication are, which are important to understand. broadly speaking, beyond this book, any chairman of the joint

chiefs has channels to communicate with china and russia, those are meant to increase confidence, meant to prevent and deter any action that would be unintended and that is a good thing because obviously we want to prevent nuclear war. so what i can speak to, though, the president's view of chairman milley. obviously chairman milley has been by his side for almost eight months issue the president's experience, he is a man of honor, man who president's confident in leadership, patriotism and fidelity to the constitution. i can't speak to anonymous out of context report from the last administration. >> the secretary of defense was invited yesterday on the hill and democrats are considering exercising subpoena power or hinting at that. would the president support secretary austin appearing in

congress, would he encourage it? >> he is appearing at the end of the month, he's agreed to that. >> on covid boosters, so much reporting about the f.d.a. and cdc and reports of the between moving forward with the timeliern and getting regulators on it. what is the president's response to criticism that politics might have played a role in the september 20 timeline? >> well, first it was a statement that was put out by eta of the nation's top doctors and public health officials, it wasn't a statement put out by the white house. it was done in response to data that was made available about the waning effectiveness of vaccines and their responsibility, or they felt at the time, to make recommendations publicly available. it is still a process that needs to be seen through. that process is undergoing, is underway right now. we of course respect that

process and will await for that process to conclude. go ahead. >> go ahead. >> sandra: back to marc now. live from jen psaki questions from jacqui heinrich about general milley. what does happen going forward? interesting going back to your original point, marc, general milley concern under trump administration over escalation and here what happened with general milley under the current administration, she just said the claims are anonymous and unconfirmed. it's been eight months and president biden has confidence in milley's leadership. what happened with the botched afghanistan withdrawal was your point. >> exactly. there was wide reporting in september of last year, general milley and leadership pushed

back hard on president trump, zero troops in afghanistan, he wanted troops out of afghanistan before he left office and they convinced president trump to leave force of 2500 troops. did general milley try to press president biden to leave 2500 troops? president biden says no one opposed his plan to withdraw everybody, general milley proposed under trump, did he not under president biden? did he advise biden not to bagram air base or the security of our troops in kabul which led to the death of 13 americans? did he advise nato allies at the g-7 meeting -- to keep, extend deadline, did he advise him to do that? >> sandra: there is multiple republicans calling on him to resign. tom cotton was skeptical of the whole thing this morning saying it was far-fetched and said

milley needs to testify. you have questions and i'm sure congress does, as well. thank you for hanging on, appreciate it. john. >> john: sandra, thanks. 1000 afghans are trying to escape the country. trey yingst has the latest. trey. >> trey: john, good afternoon. today we visited a prison that used to hold thousands of taliban fighters and talked to the group about their view of security in afghanistan. we are entering the prison with the taliban when the group entered the afghan capital, they came into the facility and freed thousands of fellow fighters from the provence and said it was 15-year struggle to take over afghanistan and they are happy they control the country and say they are bringing security to the afghan people. we walked through the prison and

meet niaz mohammed halim, a top official. when asked about americans stuck in afghanistan, he responded by saying everyone is safe and denied new reports about in-fighting between senior taliban leadership. >> everyone obeys the rule, there is no in-fighting. what we order in kabul is implemented in all provences, propaganda of the enemy. traffic controlers when >> trey: when the taliban says they are bringing security to the afghan people, that is high price of shiria law and carried out execution in more rural parts of afghanistan. john. >> john: trey, thank you for the update. >> sandra: the boyfriend of gabrielle petito who returned home to florida without her is now a person of interest in her

disappearance. petito and her boyfriend were traveling from south florida in a converted van. he mysteriously went home without her. fox is learning of an incident on august 12th. utah police saying they responded to a call, but found no evidence of a crime. daily mail is reporting last text message sent by gabby to her mother suggests she was 800 miles from where she was last seen in wyoming and the boyfriend was the one who sent it. gabby petito's dad is pleading for the public to keep an eye out. >> memorize her face. memorize the tattoos. watch the video, get that, learn her mannerisms, if she's walking down the street or stuck on a trail, you know what she looks like, that is gabby, here is my phone, call your folks, they are looking for you. >> sandra: that was this morning, he was on yesterday and said the same thing, he was not

interested in what the f.b.i. found in the van, it is in their possession. he is not interested in why the boyfriend isn't communicating. a father is entitled to anything, it is devastating for this family. he said his focus is getting her picture out there, her name out there. playing videos so people recognize her if they come across her and call that line we have at the bottom of the screen. >> john: i understand first and foremost, he wants to know what happened to his daughter and get her back, if possible. i think the family is taking greater interest in the fiance, now that the police appear to be, as well. >> sandra: devastating story, we hope to learn more soon as the investigation is ongoing. >> john: big, important story finding facebook knew instagram platform was toxic to teen girl users but did not act on it. we'll hear from a journalist who uncovered that startling report coming up. >> sandra: america's top olympic

gymnasts testifying on capitol hill about team doctor. their words next. preciate that liberty mutual >> i don't want another jung gymnast or any individual to experience the horror that i and hundreds of others endured before, during and continuing to this day.

ok everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. whoo hoo! ensure, with 27 vitamins and minerals, now introducing ensure complete! with 30 grams of protein.

a veteran who may have served in my time, during the vietnam era, ensure complete! would be eligible today for a va home loan. so many do not know that. there's no expiration date on your eligibility for the va home loan. every veteran, every service member out there if you're thinking about buying a home if you're thinking about a cash out refi whatever you're thinking with a mortgage, you should come to newday usa first. veteran homeowners. three reasons to do a cash out refi right now. home values are high while rates are low. newday lets you borrow all of your home's value.

and you could take out $50,000 dollars or more. introducing xfinity rewards. our very own way of thanking you just for being with us. enjoy rewards like movie night specials. xfinity mobile benefits. ...and exclusive experiences, like the chance to win tickets to see watch what happens live. hey! it's me. the longer you've been with us... the more rewards you can get. like sharpening your cooking skills with a top chef. join for free on the xfinity app and watch all the rewards float in. our thanks. your rewards.

>> sandra: some of america's top gymnasts testifying about being victims of abuse by team doctor larry nassar. the hearing looking into how the fbi mishandled the investigation into the allegations. live on capitol hill for us. >> sandra, powerful testimony today at times graphic, emotional, as these women, olympians tried to make the point to lawmakers that the f.b.i. let them down. >> to be clear, i blame larry nassar and i also blame an

entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse. >> it comes after a scathing department of justice report in june revealed the indianapolis f.b.i. office completely botched the larry nassar allegations. f.b.i. officials apparently failed to respond with urgency of the report. the report found all this led to a year-long delay that ultimately led to nassar abusing dozens of more girls. the f.b.i. recently fired an agent who allegedly did not properly pursue tips about nassar. here is f.b.i. investigator christopher wray. >> what am i missing? this man is on the loose molesting children and it appears it is lost in the paperwork of the agency.

>> i don't have a good explanation for you, it is jarring and that is why that individual has been fired. >> congress can call on the f.b.i. to make even more firings, the director says that this will never happen under his charge again and that he is implementing every single recommendation made by the doj. sandra. >> sandra: thank you. john. >> john: that was extraordinary hearing and now this, facebook under fire after damming new report from the "wall street journal" unveils documents shows the social media giant knows instagram can be toxic for young girls and that the company played down harmful effect to the public. our next guest is a reporter who broke the bombshell story. georgia wells. your well reported piece today on "wall street journal" puts facts behind belief that a lot

of parents, including this one have harbored for a long time. >> hi, thank you for having me. >> john: so as i said, there are a lot of parents who believe facebook can be to beingic for young teens. what did you find was behind that? >> for the past three years facebook has been conducting studies into how instagram affects users and repeatedly researchers found instagram is harmful for a sizeable percentage of them, most notably teen girls. in terms of what is hatching, negative social comparison, someone is browsing instagram or a different site, rather than looking with perspective of let me learn about this person, they look from this lens of what is called negative social

comparison, how do i stack up next to them. that is where a lot of harm is happening. >> john: you wright about young woman 18 named anastasia, who is browsing instagram three hours per day at one point saying all she saw was robberingable physical specimens posting on instagram. she said when i went on instagram, chiselled bodies, perfect abs and women doing 100 birpies in 10 minutes. if you are struggling with that day in and day out, that could have negative feedback impact on you. >> yeah, part of reporting shows it is not just teens like anastasia. 32% of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, instagram made them feel worse. >> john: you cite findings, one

slide says we make body image issues worse for 1-3 teen girls and another said teens blame instagram for increase in rate of anxiety and depression. we know there are a lot of teenagers who become depressed and some take their own lives. you are saying and this is what i found remarkable. facebook knows about this, but is burying it. >> facebook executives struggled to find way to reduce harm while keeping people on platform. facebook's own data shows instagram is toxic for many teen girls expanding basa of users is vital for the $100 billion in revenue and do not want to jeopardize engage ments with the platform. >> john: there is private research, facebook wanted to keep private, thanks to you it is in the public forum and the public statement, what

zuckerberg told congress not long ago about instagram and as he said, positive effect, on users. listen here. >> the research that we've seen is that using social apps to connect with other people can have positive mental health benefits. >> john: can have positive mental health benefits. what percentage experience positive mental health benefits versus number of people with negative experiences? >> we don't, that is one of the biggest questions. facebook executives have been questioned and they says they believe the harm outweighs the good. many would like to see the numbers that support that assertion. >> john: georgia wells, you opened a lot of eyess, i have shared that article with parents who have big concerns about social media just as we do with our children. thank you for coming on and thank you for your reporting, as well. sandra, i found this quote, the tendency to share the best

moments addictive product can send teens spiralling toward eating disorders and unhealthy sense of their own bodies and depression. they acknowledge in this research, it is diktive. >> sandra: interesting, so many interested to go after big tech, what will they do to hold facebook accountable? parent's worst nightmare, kids want to be on there and you want to look over their shoulders, i'm not there yet and it is brutal. >> john: we are there in spades. >> sandra: good luck, john. we all do the best we can. david asmen coming up. period how strong is this case? arizona attorney general will join us live. >> john: growing back dlat lash over biden's call to raise taxes. the president says he will just tax the rich. but will millions of other americans actually end up

footing the bill? david asman will weigh in next. >> slamming blue

veteran homeowners, newday's rates have dropped again. it's time to refinance. newday's low rate refi offers their lowest rate in history. two and a quarter percent. just 2.48 apr. costs. not one dollar. the newday low rate refi. take advantage of these record low rates so you and your family can save.

>> john: top stories watching for you. tropical depression nicholas drenching the south as it crawls across texas and louisiana, leaving 110,000 customers without power in the lone star state. forecasters say some areas could see 20 inches of rain in coming days. >> sandra: wow. north korea conducting missile tests, soaring 500 miles before landing in sea of japan ark midstalling talks to limit the nuclear program. >> john: and biden justice department filing injunction to pause enforcement of abartion law, move coming week afterunlay infringes on constitutional rights of women. download the fox news app, with the qr code or go to

faxnews/apps. >> sandra: president biden is making it clear tax hike on the way to help pay for massive spending plans. his official twitter account stating this late yesterday. it is time the super wealthy and big corporation pay th fair share in taxes. law democrats don't like talking about the financial pain, house version includes $3 trillion in new taxes and senate democrats looking at their own list of tax hikes, including carbon tax, anyone with a car, home or business. david asman joins us now. set the record straight. is middle america going to see taxes go up? will middle class pay more for these plans? >> david: yes, might not be as clear as middle class tax hike. corporate tax rate, when you have corporate tax hike, the corporations don't pay it, they pass it on to the consumers. when you have spending of trillions of more dollars, you

don't see immediate tax hike for middle class and poor. what you do, you get inflation, kind of a tax. anybody dropped at the grocery store consistently realize they are paying big tax in terms of inflation. there are all these accelerated ways of paying taxes by the middle class and by small businesses. there are 5 million small businesses called sub-chapter s. fancy way to say they take profit as income rather than corporate profit. when the taxes go up on top rates issue the owners of those 5 million businesses, not a small number, they hire tens, some say up to 100 million people hired by sub-chapter s corporations. they are paying out of their pocket. they have small profit margin, think of a small restaurant, something like that. profit margin small enough if their income tax goes up from 20

to 21% to 26%, they will pay a huge amount and have to pass that on in terms of cost to customers. >> sandra: that is a big deal, if you don't have a business-friendly environment and business is thriving, guess who gets hurt, says "new york post." put headline on the screen. tax hikes would4.2% wage hi next to 5.3 ark way. wage hikes mean nothing then. paying this for chicken, pricess go up, eggs, gasoline, everything for your family.

used car and trucks, you have seen a squeeze on that market. television prices, everything is going up. goldman sachs is warning the biggest threat to the economic boom and the stock market rally that we have seen is a hike in tacks, david. tax, not economic growth is key risk to stocks. we keep wondering what could throw a wrench in the rally? david costa says this cannot be good for the market. >> david: key point of president trump's tax cut plan was to bring companies that had fled the united states because it was highest corporate tax rate in the industrialized world to places like ireland with 12% corporate rate, etcetera. a lot of people think if you reverse what trump did, if you raise taxes again, and all sorts of taxes even if it goes up to 26%, which is not as much as they were saying originally it was 29%, close t local corporat,

as well, that could pushup to one of the highest corporate tax rates in the industrial world. it is small companies, sub-chapter s's i worry about most. they will be eliminating bonuses trump tax cuts got, like 20% deduction on business income you got right off the bat. biden administration wants to eliminate that, that was helpful to small businesses and there is 3.8% sur-tax as well in the biden plan. these people, it is small companies i worry about most, they were hit terribly by the lockdowns and hit by riots. now they are getting hit by the vaccine mandate, they need taxes to suck them dry and that is exactly what has been happening. >> sandra: small businesses, engine of this great american economy, look at the dow on wednesday afternoon, it keeps going up, 267-point gain.

>> david: it was down yesterday when the tax plan came out. >> sandra: that is what i'm saying, that is the big concern on wall street, whether or not this rally continues. it is whether or not taxes go up. we're watching the dow 35,000. thank you. john. >> john: market goes down and up, like your taxes. stunning numbers from dhs showing 208,000 migrantss were encountered during the month of august, the latest numbers from the full report coming up. >> sandra: arizona attorney general on his lawsuit challenging joe biden's vaccine mandate, that is next. mm. [ clicks tongue ] i don't know. i think they look good, man. mm, smooth. uh, they are a little tight. like, too tight?

might just need to break 'em in a little bit. you don't want 'em too loose. for those who were born to ride there's progressive. with 24/7 roadside assistance. -okay. think i'm gonna wear these home. -excellent choice.

you founded your kayak company because you love the ocean- not spreadsheets. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire what's the #1 retinol brand matching your job description. used most by dermatologists?

it's neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair® smooths the look of fine lines in 1-week, deep wrinkles in 4. so you can kiss wrinkles goodbye! neutrogena® your eyes. beautiful on the outside, but if you have diabetes, there can be some not-so-pretty stuff going on, on the inside. it's true, if you have diabetes, you know high blood sugar is the root of the problem. but that excess sugar can cause the blood vessels to be seriously damaged. and when that happens, this could happen, vision loss or even blindness. that's right, diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of blindness for adults in the u.s. but even though you can't see it, there is something you can do about it. remember this: now is the time to get your eyes checked. eye care is an incredibly important part of your long-term diabetes management. see a path forward with actions and treatments that may help your eyes— and protect against vision loss. just say to yourself, “now eye see.” then—go see an eye care specialist.

visit noweyesee.com to get the facts about diabetes, your eyes, and what you can do next—to take control of your sight. brought to you by regeneron. are you a veteran, own a home, and need and what you can do next—to take control of your sight. money for your family? newday usa can help. we earned a lot of va benefits with our service, but the va home loan benefit is a big one. you could take out $50,000 or more. you could use that money to pay credit card debt and other expenses, plan for retirement, and get back on your feet financially. call newday usa right now. >> sandra: legal challenge to president biden's sweeping vaccine mandate announced last week, arizona's attorney general will join us to discuss his lawsuit next. first this. shocking numbers at the southern

border, source telling fox news 200 migrant encounters, that is up from 50,000 last august. representing year over year increase of 300%. the second month in a row above 200,000. >> john: big numbers for august. biden administration facing legal challenge. arizona on tuesday becoming first state in the nation to file a lawsuit in federal court. news comes as recent polls show the public may be losing faith in the administration's ability to handle the pandemic. attorney general mark brnovich joins us now. the case between brnovich is equal protection argument. you say under equal protection clause, vaccine mandate is null and void because it does not require that migrants who are coming across the border illegally, we saw 208,000 with new numbers in august, make the

case for us that because it doesn't apply to migrants, the whole thing needs to be voided. >> thank you for having me on, john. it is quite frankly as simple as this, i don't think we can have a serious discussion on covid that doesn't begin with talking about what is going on at our border. it demonstrates hypocrisy of the biden administration, which has a great effect on us. they said, if you are a non-citizen, you have option to take the vaccine or not, a u.s. citizen will be required to take the vaccine. that violates equal protection clause. secondly, important to emphasize, if you read our lawsuit, we make the case the president himself does not have any power, anywhere in the constitution, especially when you consider the ninth and tenth amendment to mandate anybody anywhere should get the vaccine. from jump street, our position this is unconstitutional exercise of police power as

president doesn't have and furthermore, if he could, he's doing in such a way contrary to constitution, gives people here illegally, pass, option to take it and forcing u.s. citizens to take it, that shows hypocrisy in the biden administration. >> john: paragraph 12, the president is not a king who can exercise this unbridled power unilaterally and even george iii would not have had royal decree alone. you are claiming it is one of a series, greater series of constitutionally inappropriate actions. >> john, there is a case in the fifth circuit can stop biden administration from halting deportations. we said federal loss have to deport people who have deportation orders. they were not doing.

there are series of actions and whether nationalizing election, massive tax bills that are boon doggles, for green energy causes, we have seen attempt to consolidate power in d.c. i submit to you issue the federal government doesn't have power, have you enablers in congress allowing biden to do it and contradictory to the constitution and something i think that is unprecedented. think about this, john, notion the federal government, the president can order you to inject something in your body and regardless what you think about the vaccine, good, bad, doesn't matter, it is principle the federal government, one man, one person cannot take control of your body and tell you what you have to put inside it. these are fundamental principles we are fighting for and i hope folks see that. i worry about politicization of the biden administration, i will keep fighting. >> john: this is before the court, federal courts, it will

be up to the third branch of government to make determination if this is constitutionally sound or not. "wall street journal" holman jenkins wrote about this yesterday saying the good news about the joe biden vaccine mandate, lawyers and judges will have both insentive and duty to apply clear thinking about covid, which has been lacking. the question is not whether vaccines are good or bad, but whether the government has sufficient authority and grounds to overrule personal choice and whether to take them. too, attorney general brnovich, the trend line for joe biden is going in the wrong direction. the new quinnipiac poll, 48% of respondents approve of how he is handling it, well within the margin of error, the trend line going in the wrong direction. your thoughts? >> john, i have a public school kid, i didn't go to ivy league

school, but i understand the importance, my family fled communism, making sure there is rule of law in a government, especially president that respects the constitution. this is one of those issues, if you allow the biden administration to get away with this, it is unfettered amount of power in the hands of one person, any one admin stragz 6789 i /* /* -- administration. this is invasion of our bodies and right to privacy and overreach by the federal government. if you allow this precedent to fan, allow the president to do this, what can he not do? unfettered power and constitution said that was not his job. you are right about the system and checks and balances of the judiciary getting involved, let us not forget, madison and the people that wrote the constitution, understood states were ultimate check and would guard liberty and right of citizens and that is what we're doing. this should be issue where there

are 50 checks on president biden, all 50 states. >> john: see if the aclu take you up and join the lawsuit. thank you for laying it out for us. >> sandra: breaking developments in the disappearance of gabby petito. police naming a person of interest in her disappearance. philip holloway is here to react. >> john: historic launch at cape canaveral today, mission set to blast off tonight. stay with us.

liberty mutual customizes car insurance so you only pay for what you need. how much money can liberty mutual save you? one! two! three! four! five! 72,807! 72,808... dollars. yep... everything hurts. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

>> john: fox news alert. moments ago at the white house president biden saying he continues to have confidence in his chairman mark milley. milley in the news after reported in a new book he contacted his chinese counterpart during the waning days of the trump administration saying he would alert them due to an ark tack, trying to calm tension and fears among the chinese. the president was asked if milley did the right thing, he said, i have confidence in general milley. as soon as we get that tape, we will have more for you. sandra. >> sandra: we will. in what will be historic step for space x set to launch

world's first off civilian crew into orbit from kennedy space center tonight. the team of four private citizens have been preparing for the mission for months now. live at cape canaveral, florida, we await that, hi, phil. >> hi, sandra. launch day is here, we're about six hours away from the stase x falcon 9 rocket and dragon capsule to launch from 39-a and head into space for three days. technically on the pad, everything is a go, nothing has popped up all day and the weather favorability is 90% at the time of launch, which is 8:02 eastern. the astronauts say they are ready. >> tonight lifelong dreams for four private citizens are about to come true. going into space. a top space x falcon 9 rocket and inside the dragon capsule,

most ambitious mission ever. the crew is a tech billionaire and pilot who paid for the entire trip, a childhood cancer survivor and physician assistant, a geo science professor and 2009 nasa astronaut finalist and an air force and iraq veteran who works in the aerospace industry. the journey outdoes what richard branson and jeff bezos shepherd flights did this summer. those were short, inspiration four will go into orbit, 350 miles above earth, 100 miles further than the space station. >> from the time this mission was announced to where we are today, we've just been going super sonic, it's been super fast. one training event after the next. a number of life-changing experiences in quick succession. >> vision dedicated to raising

money for st. jude children's research hospital. sandra. >> sandra: phil phil keating, we will be watching. thank you, phil. john. >> john: fox news alert, instagram found have have a toxic effect on the mental health of some teenage girls and an investigation finds facebook was aware of it. how lawmakers working to hold the social media giant accountable. marsha blackburn will react in the next hour of "america reports," don't you dare go anywhere. veteran homeowners. if you haven't refinanced yet, get in on record low rates now. the newday two and a quarter refi is the lowest rate in newday's history. two and a quarter percent. just 2.48 apr. just one call, and you can save thousands every year. there's no money out of pocket and no up front fees.

the newday two and a quarter refi. at these rates, you may never need to refinance again.

you know how some carriers give you so little for your old or busted phone, you just end up living with it? i don't think so. verizon lets you trade in your broken phone for a shiny new one. you break it... we upgrade it. you dunk it? crash it? yikes. doggy bone-it? ha-ha! slam it, wham it, strawberry jamit? we upgrade it! every customer. current, new or business. up to $800 for the 5g phone you want. because everyone deserves better. put my phone in the washer... and the dryer. psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff, swollen, painful. tremfya® is approved to help reduce joint symptoms in adults with active psoriatic arthritis. some patients even felt less fatigued. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms

or if you had a vaccine or plan to. tremfya®. emerge tremfyant™. janssen can help you explore cost support options.

veteran homeowners, newday usa is holding the line on interest rates. tremfya®. emerge tremfyant™. the newday two and a quarter refi is the lowest in their history. two and quarter percent, just 2.48 apr. save thousands a year. >> john: fox news alert top new hour of "america reports." bombshell develop ments in the search for a missing 22-year-old woman. ♪ ♪ >> gabby petito's boyfriend is now a person of interest.

i'm john roberts in washington, welcome to hour two of "america reports." hi, sandra. >> sandra: so many questions about this story, still unanswered, i'm sandra smith in new york. police in the boyfriend's hometown of north port, florida, saying the man has not made himself available, the boyfriend has not made himself available to be interviewed by the fbi, nor given them any sort of helpful information in this case, john. >> john: we have reported the two were on a cross-country trip, sharing photos along the way, even video from colorado to utah to wyoming. >> sandra: last time she was seen, we are told was at a hotel in salt lake city, with the boyfriend. gabby's mother says the last time she spoke to her daughter was final week of august. live in north port, florida, jonathan, we're intrigued with the fact the boyfriend is not answering questions, the parents

won't let him talk, deferring everything to their lawyers. >> deferring everything to their lawyers, but seems like police and gabby's family are really trying to increase the pressure on him. definitely a significant development today for the first time police are referring to brian laundrie, the 23-year-old young man traveling with gabby as a person of interest. also gabby's family, through their attorney issued a statement addressing brian laundrie directly saying, "you tarnish your love for her with your silence." prior to disappearance, gabby petito had been active on social media. police in utah tell fox news they responded to incident involving the couple on august 12, complaint coming from third party and officers responding were unable to find enough evidence to justify criminal charges. the independent male reports last text from gabby's

phone came on august 30 stating, "no service in yosemite," but gabby's mother suspects her daughter disappeared in wyoming. police located the van the couple had been traveling in in north port, florida, where the couple had been living with the family. police were provided contact information for the family attorney, other than that, brian and his parents have refused to speak with investigators. >> he needs to talk with us, we need to know exactly where he was, where she was, their last locations and the fact he was back here for 10 days. >> investigators are asking people with information, either on gabby's whereabouts or anyone who may have seen her van driving around recent weeks to

call f.b.i. tip line at 800-call-f.b.i. sandra and john, gabby's father expressed concern her instagram account had been taken down, it is unclear who brought it down. it was reinstated and back online as of a few hours ago. back to you. >> sandra: another ip -- intriguing development. we'll have more coming up. thank you. >> john: so much mystery and intrigue. bring in former assistant district attorney. philip, you have been tweeting about this case all day today. what is your gut telling you? >> good afternoon, john and sandra, i prefer to call it what it is. i don't like the phrase person of interest, this man is a

suspect, he just is. he's been a suspect since day one. when the story first broke and the circumstances were known to the public, he was suspect number one. i'm not accusing anybody of anything, but most likely he knows what happened, if he doesn't, he has a pretty good idea what happened. his lawyer has given him pretty good advice to remain silent. the police will do what they can to develop physical evidence, trace evidence, forensic evidence, anything to answer questions. what i'm concerned about and i certainly hope this is not the case, but if they reach a deadend in the quest for answers and he's the only person left, they may have to cut a deal with him to force him to talk. for example, they could bring him immunity, to answer questions to a grand jury. this family needs answers one way or the other, law enforcement has to find answers. >> youue the word, suspect, that is your word, not the police's

word. person of interest is what they are going with despite some people may have a different definition of it. the petito family was sort of keeping quiet up to this point about brian laundrie. we had the father, joe, on yesterday and he didn't want to talk about him. here is what the family is saying, brian, how could you do this to gabby, you selfishly remain silent while gabby is all alone. we beg you to do the right thing and help us bring gabby home. whatever happened, happened, the only thing you can control is what you do now, tell us where gabby is, you tarnish your love for her with your silence. you can understand, philip, the family is just beside itself, not knowing what happened to their daughter. >> yes, i'm a father. i have a daughter myself. i can imagine these -- this family is just absolutely beside themselves with grief. the police have a lot they don't

know. probably more of that than they have things they do know. what they have to do, john, take things they do know, like last known location of individuals or cell phones and work outward from that perimeter. they will try to retrace everybody's steps, not just hers, but his, and see what point they can prove they were together and then start identifying what point in time, also in terms of geography and time and place the two my have diverted from one another, they were no longer physically together. i'm afraid quite a number of days has gone by before she was reported missing, so if there is trace evidence in the van, ample opportunity for somebody to have the van cleaned, destroy trace evidence. i hope they are able to find something, that seems to be the most promising place right now. i'm skeptical due to delay in reporting her missing. >> john: what do you make of new

report last text message from gabby her mother received was at end of august, from yosemite, or somewhere near text message said no cell service in yosemite. the mother doesn't think that text message was from her, could it have been a ploy to throw her off the trail? >> it absolutely could be, that only tells us two things. tells us the phone was powered and a human being sent a text message, it doesn't prove who did it or where they did it. they might be able to triangalate that use of that cell phone with nearby cell tower or towers to see if in fact they were near yosemite. that will be something investigators are going to do, they have a lot of cell towers between north port, florida and grand tetons. if this individual was driving across the country, you have lots of cell tower information,

lots of places people where they could stop and eat, gas, credit cards will be used, surveillance video all points in between. these investigators have a lot of work to do and have to sift through enormous amount of material and let's hope they find the answer to questions this family needs. >> john: quick question, 30 seconds left, philip. without more evidence, how much pressure with north port police put on brian laundrie? >> they will execute search warrants, they don't have arrest warrant, not enough to make a case. they are really at the mercy of the individual to decide whether or not he wants to wave his constitutional right and speak to them. quite frankly, his lawyer is giving him solid advice, that is what we want criminal lawyers to do, give solid advice and keeping one's mouth shut is usually excellent advice. anything you say can and will be

used against you in court. he didn't know what police know, if he says something contrary to other solid information, if he doesn't make an admission, he is incriminating himself. >> john: thank you for helping us walk through this, we'll stay in touch and get you back real quick. >> you bet, good day. >> john: sandra, more and more intriguing now. >> sandra: and to philip's point, amount of time that passed before she was reported missing and time that has passed authorities were notified, all that time, it is concerning for that family for sure. we'll have more coming up, john. to south carolina and stunning admission from the prominent lawyer who says he found his wife and son murdered. alex murdaugh confessed to hiring hitman in attempt to take his own life. murdaugh's attorney saying it was a scheme so his surviving son could collect millions. live in the southeast newsroom,

steve. >> murdaugh saying the shooting of him in the head on roadside in south carolina was staged, he asked a former client to take that shot. murdaugh survived. the plan was his son would inherit $10 million. curtis smith, 61 years old, charged with assisted suicide and selling methamphetamine, just three weeks ago murdaugh family was in the news, wife and son gunned down brutally outside the family's large hunting lodge. here is alec calling 911. >> no suspects named in either

of the murders. alec murdaugh checked himself into for opioid abuse after being forced out of his family law firm. he was found to have stolen large sums of money from the law firm. big question, could he be involved in the murder of his wife and son. his attorney says he has no idea who killed his wife and son. the attorneys hint they may know who is behind the two murders. >> i don't think he does, but jim griffin and i are working on and investigating an individual or individuals we believe may, may have some culpability or have done it. we're in the process of doing it. >> originally what was thought the murders could be revenge killings. this family is tied to two more murders, son paul on trial for driving boat while drunk, 19-year-old girl was killed in

the boat crash in 2015, a 19-year-old man, openly gay steven smith, had his skull crushed 10 miles from the murdaugh home, there could be a connection between this family and the murder there now. money, sex, drugs, class and new twist everyday. sandra, john, back to you. >> sandra: wow, steve, thank you. it has been something different every single day, it is drugs, violence, it is sex, money and we're following it. >> john: hiring somebody to kill you, that is a new twist. >> sandra: absolutely. >> john: keep watching. critical race theory on the ballot in key race for governor. >> sandra: a damming report finding facebook knew instagram was toxic to many teen girls, but failed to act on it, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle calling for action now,

dreading sarnt -- including senator marsha blackburn, she will join us next. what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ blackburn, she will join us next.

what's the #1 retinol brand used most by dermatologists? it's neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair® smooths the look of fine lines in 1-week, deep wrinkles in 4. so you can kiss wrinkles goodbye! neutrogena®

>> no, i don't take any of their word, we have been getting empty promises for years. and i don't take people's words for things, it has to be action. hopefully today will be a day that affects meaningful change and hopefully we'll continue to get answers and people will be held accountable. i think we deserve more thap just words. >> jessica howard to say a few words. >> hi, something was going to be done. when i was beginning of the end of my career, my coach pulled me ark side before i got kicked out of the gym forever. she said that my failure in life

was going to be that i trusted people too much and i spoke too frely. that is has haunted me like a ghost because i've been torn between wanting to trust people when they say things and wanting to believe they are going to do the right thing and actually seeing somebody do the right thing. only a handful of people who have and that handful is part of the most powerful organization in the united states, one of the most powerful organizations, the senate. i don't know how we got to be here today, but i can just say thank you from the bottom of my heart. it has personally contributed to saving my life and i know that everybody here, all the victims, we're tired of sharing our heartbreaking story so people can have their heartstrings tugged at. people who do not -- the people

that actually can take and force the laws on to the people accountable, this will get fixed. it will go away and future generations will not face the abuse we have faced and they will not face a lifetime of side effects that may or may not be the end of them. i just again, want to thank the senate, thank you for everything you said. i believe you, i believed you when you spoke last time i was here and today i believe you even more and with this group, i feel we can do something. thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> i would just emphasize that we were last in this room, many were here and we made a promise to continue this fight. we will continue this fight. we've achieved legislation, we have reports, but we're going to

continue this effort because we need to keep faith with you and with all of the athletes who may be survivors and victims of this kind of abuse and you are the faces and voices that will achieve real change in this country. the enablers, the culture, the system, it is more than just one monster predator like larry nassar. there is a much broader responsibility and need for broader accountability and that is what we're going to see. action and accountability. other questions? yes? >> [indiscernible]

>> i know i sound like a broken record, but i think your question is really important and i often ask myself the same thing and i think instead of us guessing if someone should be in the position of leadership or position of power at usoc, this is why i'm saying we need to have a complete, independent investigation because i don't have all the answers. when you look at their press statements for decades, they have been saying the same things over and over again, with no real meaningful change, but it is -- i can't understand how when you are a ceo and you have nothing to do with this disaster and you come in as the new ceo of an organization and you know that you're coming into a massive problem of sexual abuse

and the first thing you do is not to investigate, in fact, do things to not investigate and to not do anything when people shame survivors and not hear survivors and try to create more education and do things that will really, truly make change, it's completely unacceptable and i can't understand if i was the ceo of an organization, the first thing i would do have completely independent investigation and i'm not sure why that hasn't been done yet. i mean, maybe we can speculate because they're afraid it is so bad they don't want us to find out. >> i would just add, on face sports, independent source of funding, the injury is still out on whether it is going to be sufficient in terms of the

reforms made already and we're going to be monitoring it, we have responsibility to watch closely and all of the reforms can be strengthened and we may well need to strengthen them. >> [indiscernible] -- >> i'm demanding more of the f.b.i., but more important, of the department of justice. the department of justice today was a no show, the department of justice failed to appear. they have responsibility ultimately for the f.b.i., for the prosecution and for action here. director wray may have ran out of adjectives but the department

of justice hasn't run out of action and they should be answering many of the questions. so i am by no means satisfied with what i heard today. >> as somebody who has been in and out of that's rooms since the beginning of this coming forward, i would like to let you know, if the fbi had done anything that was even within their own policies and procedures or followed any of the laws already in place to protect children from sexual abuse, some people would not be here as victims let alone talk about recovery. so it seems a little redundant to talk about things put in place when people cannot hear something about child sexual abuse, violent child sexual abuse, trafficking and being accessory to the fact larry nassar did what he did and then

we're somehow supposed to be able to answer where the f.b.i. screwed up, you know, they are amazing people, good people, but if people do not work their conscious on moral standard and do basics of their job, then that is why we're here, we hope that can happen. there are 120 people who would not have been victims had one f.b.i. agent made a proper report or phone call. >> and during -- i don't know whether you saw it, but i asked everyone of these women whether they knew personally victims who became survivors during that nearly 18-month period, july 2015 to the end of 2016. there were 120 young women who

laid before larry nassar on his examining table and he did with them whatever he wanted because the fbi did nothing. let's be very clear, the fbi's inaction led to victimization of the most horrific and hideous kind. >> [indiscernible] -- >> well, i asked director wray about the potential for conspiracy and i'm going to be following up with both him and inspector general horowitz and both of them said they would cooperate. i don't know if anyone will be fired, but i hope we haven't heard the last of action. [indiscernible] --

>> the subpoena? >> that is better. [indiscernible] -- >> well, i definitely want to hear more from the department of justice. i want to hear something from the department of justice. today we heard nothing from the department of justice, after a letter that i wrote, along with senator feinstein specifically

urging the top leadership of the department of justice to come before us and i want cooperation. i'd like to hear their testimony. >> can i say one thing about them not showing up? >> sure. >> the message that by them not showing up, to me, sends that child abuse doesn't matter. and i think that is something that people in positions of power and these powerful organizations need to think about, is that the message they are sending that abuse doesn't matter. and i think it is completely shocking and disturbing that they didn't think it was important or they didn't think what happened to us, hate to speculate, wasn't bad enough to come, it is really unacceptable and hopefully we will get to

hear their testimony and if there is another hearing, they will show up. >> you know, i'll just say, generally, what we saw from the indianapolis office of the fbi and then the los angeles office and then the entire system, was failure to take seriously these allegations. they didn't take them seriously and that's what really should be so outrageous and the perception may well be that the department of justice doesn't take this issue seriously. sometimes perception becomes reality. >> [indiscernible] --

>> i can think of one thing, indictments, people being arrested, where there is evidence and where this are witnesses, if there are no indictments and there is nobody being arrested and the people that have become accessories to again, trafficking, handing us on silver platter to larry nassar, are not held to account, i don't know what today was for. but today was for something and i believe those things will begin to happen. >> thank you, everyone. really appreciate your being here, sorry for the delay and thank you, especially to you all. again. and maybe we'll be back in this room. thank you all. >> thank you.

>> thank you all. >> thank you. >> sandra: some powerful words from the gymnasts who testified before the senate earlier today holding a press conference with richard blumenthal, who said, we will continue this fight, the fbi inaction led to victimization of the most hideous kind. we heard from christopher wray who owned up to failure of the fbi to investigate what happened to these girls, the agents he said repeatedly and inexcusably broke trust in the larry nassar case. the agent who botched the investigation is no longer working in any capacity. young women getting their time on capitol hill today. marsha blackburn, you have been involved from the very beginning. your thoughts as our hearts break for these young women to be sharing their stories and coming forward in such a public way so they can prevent this

from happening to anyone else again, senator. >> yes, sandra, that is exactly right. they have been very, very powerful in how they have presented their accounts and how they have recounted what they have lived through. one of the things to me that is so offensive in this is that the fbi did not appear to take their allegations seriously. you had an 18-month period of time, where larry nassar abused another 70 individuals that we know of. and i am certain, as we begin this investigation, 70 will be the base, it is not going to be the top number. but these young women should have been taken seriously when they first mentioned this. something should have been done. the university finally started

an investigation and this is how it began to untangle and get to the bottom of what was going on with larry nassar. and just the monster he was to these young women. they trusted him. their families trusted him. their coaches trusted them. they violated that trust. then you have the usa gymnastics and the olympic committee questions there about action and their participation with the f.b.i., the way the f.b.i. handled these young women. and going forward, one thing i asked them today, i told them, first of all, i wanted to be certain they had a female agent they were able to talk to and appears there was inconsistency in that and secondly, i want to

hear from them, what reform do they feel like would need to make and they had questions about safe sports, which should be the body, they could trust to take the allegations to. if not safe sports, who would they trust and is there an individual or other organization that they would trust to receive these allegations and for young athletes to know these allegations were going to be investigated properly. >> sandra: senator, heartbreaking story, i know young women hope they bring about change and christopher wray was tough to hear the apology about the agents he said repeatedly broke trust in this case. we will see where all this goes, if i could senator marsha blackburn, your final thoughts on your efforts along with richard blumenthal, senator whom we heard on this particular

case, you're launching an investigation jointly into facebook's internal research, senator, on the way instagram is affecting young users. "wall street journal" investigation, we had the reporter on last hour revealing the company knew the app was toxic to mental health of some teens, particularly girls. how do you plan to hold facebook accountable on what they knew about the effects this was having on the youngest generation? >> well, sandra, as you know, i've been after big tech for how they are approaching children with their data, with their privacy, the mental health aspect of this. not only with facebook, but instagram, tiktok, snapchat, twitter, all of them. what we are doing is launching again, a series of hearings, but

also an investigation looking at this data. what did they know, when did they know it? how long have they had this? how long have they continued pushing this addiction to instagram knowing that there was an adverse impact on young women specifically? we will continue with this. we are working on legislation that would address privacy and data security. some of the issuess that we have around big tech, section 230 reforms and the more we learn and the more we investigate, the more concerned we are and points at the need for congress to take an action because obviously big tech is more interested in chasing dollars worth of profit than they are in doing a community service. >> sandra: money behind every decision a company like that makes, right, senator? i will end with this, reporter

on the "wall street journal" story we had last hour, she pointed to money, facebook found ways to reduce harm while keeping people on facebook. instagram is shown to be toxic for young girls, expanding base is vital to 100 billion in annual revenue. that is just the beginning of that story, see where you take it senator, appreciate you joining us. thank you. >> absolutely, thank you. >> john. >> john: president biden backing the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff after explosive allegations in a new book allege general mark milley tried to limit president trump's power in the final days of his presidency. >> did general milley do the right thing -- >> thank you. >> did general milley do the right thing? >> i have great confidence in general milley. >> john: i have confidence in general milley. jacqui heinrich has more on

this, hi. >> the president shutting down any question about whether or not he has confidence in his chairman of the joint chief amid allegations general milley may have exceeded his authority. spokesperson for general milley denied reported calls to his chinese military counterpart saying milley assurances was to maintain strategic stability, the meeting regarding nuclear weapon protocol to remind uniform leaders in the pentagon of robust procedure in light of media reporting on the subject. general milley continues to act and advise within authority in lawful control of the military and his oath to the constitution. white house press secretary jen psaki refused to comment on the allegations in this book and shared the president's full endorsement of milley. >> what is the president's response to this criticism that the chairman of the joint chiefs exceeded his authority, his civilian authority? >> president's opinion is he a

man of honor, a man the president is confident in his leadership, patriotism, fidelity to the constitution. i can't speak and will not speak to anonymous, reports from the last administration. >> jen psaki said biden doesn't fear conflict with milley and milley follows rules of law and responsibility of the chairman of the joint chief to prevent unlawful action. critics fear bad sentiment. >> if general milley decides joe biden is senile, or future president, i don't think he's in his right mind, it is essence, military coup. >> jen psaki's statement on the event described in the book were far more critical of the former president than the chairman of the joint chief, john. >> john: jacqui heinrich at the white house with the latest, thanks. sandra. >> sandra: bring in michael allen, senior director and

former staff director of house intelligence committee joining us now. thank you, sir, for joining us. your thoughts as we just heard from president biden, asked by reporter about general milley, he responded, he has great confidence in the general. your thoughts as we continue to learn more? >> i think it is normal for a chairman of the joint chief of staff to call counterparts overseas. what would be abnormal, if he said, as alleged in the woodward book, said things to effect of, i will call you or otherwise warn you in a real military situation, that would be very disturbing, especially if he's doing that as a freelancer and not at the direction of a civilian. at least secretary of defense mark esper. we have to get to bottom of this, i'm glad he's going before congress in the next two weeks to answer questions under oath and clear them up.

they are disturbing because they call into question civilian control of the military, among other things. >> sandra: if the claims are true, does he need to go? >> he needs, yes, if he is well outside of his authority, he would need to go. if secretary esper asked him to do it, then i think it is a different question and we need to parse the facts and see what he said and what he was ordered to say. >> sandra: really interesting, senator tom cotton was on fox and friends and took to the defense of general milley on this. listen. >> i know he will address it and will ensure that he addresses it, this is one of those claims obviously that seems far-fetched idea a general will warn adversary if an attack is coming. as you say, when donald trump was never thinking about a military attack against china, the whole thing is pretty far-fetched. >> sandra: what did you think when you heard that? >> well, i caught that interview this morning, as well, and i

agree with senator cotton, it would be crazy for a general to say such a thing, especially to our greatest adversary in the world, here we are at the beginning of geo strategic competition with china. i believe it's been exaggerated by the reporters in their book, we need to ask him under oath, i know the senators will do that in the hearings soon. we have to get to the bottom of it, we don't need civilians in the white house or top of the pentagon wondering if men and women are freelancing on political matters. >> sandra: how dangerous is this for this sort of book to be out there and these types of exchanges to be alleged for our engagement with other world leaders in communications? what does it do to our current situation today, michael? >> it is terribly damaging, makes us look like the united states doesn't have its act together. the events in afghanistan just turning in tale and running and

abandoning bases and decimating our intelligence capability adds up to what is the united states doing, can we trust them anymore? we have to get serious about reassuring allies issue not just in europe, but also around asia, they want to know the united states will be with them as they struggle against china economically and ultimately perhaps militarily. >> sandra: we hear your warning and the urgency in your voice. thank you for joining us, appreciate it. john. >> john: sandra, americans watched in horror as images of chaos in afghanistan unfolded before their very eyes. one famous singer songwriter was so moved by the tragedy he wrote a protest sopping criticizing the botched pull out that led to death of 13 u.s. service

members. john joins us here on "america reports" coming up next. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

veteran homeowners, i have 100 great reasons why you should use your va benefit to turn your home equity into cash. the newday 100 va cash out loan. with mortgage rates near record lows.. and home values at record highs. you could take out $50,000 or more to build your dream kitchen, a new bathroom, or a swimming pool for the kids. call newday right now.

>> john: during vietnam war, songwriters like bob dylan, bob fogerty and others had powerful

protest songs. now john ondrasik behind "five for fighting" is reviving the protest song genre, aiming at withdrawal from afghanistan, the new song "blood on my hands," here is a taste of it. >> there is blood on these hands. ♪ ♪ and still americans left for the taliban. ♪ ♪ how is that happening? >> john: john ondrasik joins us now. john, this is new area for you, the protest song, at what point during this whole debacle did you say to yourself, i have to use the power of my artistry to weigh in on this? >> john: you know, john, like all of us, when we saw the images coming in out of

afghanistan with the people falling from planes and women throwing their babies over walls, i was stunned. the song didn't take shape until the day our 13 soldiers were killed and 100 afghans by the suicide bombers. i did what many musicians do, went to my piano. the song took shape, a few days later, i got a call from afghanistan, she said, i need a contact number, can you help me? sure, what is going on? i'm organizing evacs of amsits. what is amsits? american citizen from afghanistan. i said, are you telling me that our private american citizens are rescuing our people, afghan allies, that our government left behind? and john, she started crying and this is a toughy, i wrote a few

verses. then when president biden gave his extraordinary success speech, i was stunned and i was hope general milley and general austin would come out and give us more realistic view. when they came out and echoed the same line in this extraordinary success, everything went fine, i was not only insulted, i was scared to death. the last few verses basically wrote themselves. and blood on my hands was a song. >> john: i tell you, it is a powerful song and very in your face song, in which you call out by name members of the administration and the military leadership. here is another quick excerpt and get you on the backside. ♪ ♪ >> blinken, can you look me in the eye? milley, tell me when did you decide this will defend your sacred motto now means never mind. ♪

♪ >> john: you told me on the phone as we were arranging this interview, that you're concerned about the future direction of this country based on what we witnessed coming out of afghanistan. >> john, to me, this is a moral issue, not a political issue. i know in this world everything is a political issue. this is about america's promise, our promise matters. no man left behind matters to our allies. who will trust us again? the president looked us in the eye and said no american will be left behind. we left americans behind and nobody has resigned or been fired or even said we're sorry. that world scares me, this is a political exercise, it scares me for my children, my grandchildren. i think everybody feels the same sentiments i do, some folks are ark frayed to say it, we know it was a mess, debacle. only way we get our respect back, allies to trust us, we have clear accountability and

reflection so we don't do it again. god forbid china comes, russia moves, it is dangerous, i'm trying not to be dramatic, but sometimes even songwriters have no words and i really have no words. >> jason: >> john: you faced a tough choice issue not just conservatives are fans of yours, you tried to keep it apolitical. but a lot of democratic oriented fans may say why are you ripping the biden administration, i don't like you anymore. how did you make that calculation? >> it breaks my heart, i get annoyed when celebrities and i'm not even one, i'm the d-minus list. it breaks my heart. people have such relationship with superman and 100 years, but to me, this is critical. if donald trump were president and we were in the same situation, i assure you, i would have written the same song, only

the names would change and i would probably be on some other channels talking about it that really don't want to talk to me. it is too important. it is our country. tradition of people speaking their mind. this is a norral issue, not a political one. i am not attacking the biden administration as political bullet, but they are the ones who did it and they are the ones who are still on the stand. blinken yesterday explaining it away, that is dangerous. if republican comes any time soon, you will get that song, too. here we are, john, i know you and sandra have been recognizing heroes rescuing people down there. you know what is happening. i know some atrocities happening as we speak to women and children that would break your heart. we want to move to the next thing. that is not america. we caused this. we have to do everything we can to fix it and those that are going to hurt and if we don't, who are we?

i don't like america 2.0. >> john: again, a very powerful song, you are going on tour soon, john, people will be able to hear your music in person. thanks for joining us, appreciate it. we'll be right back. homeowners. news for n newday's refi rate is the lowest in their history. two and a quarter percent. just 2.48 apr. one call can save you thousands every year. and it's easy. there's no money out of pocket and no upfront fees. and while some banks are raising their rates, newday is holding the line for veterans. lock in your rate.

mmm, licorice records. wonka, digital workflows for it tell us this machine needs updating... kids don't really have records anymore... but it tastes better on vinyl... servicenow.

people with moderate to severe psoriasis, or psoriatic arthritis, are rethinking the choices they make like the splash they create the way they exaggerate the surprises they initiate. otezla. it's a choice you can make. otezla is not an injection or a cream it's a pill that treats differently. for psoriasis, 75% clearer skin is achievable, with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. for psoriatic arthritis, otezla is proven to reduce joint swelling, tenderness, and pain. and the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop.

some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines and if you're pregnant or planning to be. otezla. show more of you. age-related macular degeneration may lead to severe vision loss, so the national eye institute did 20 years of clinical studies on a formula found in preservision. if it were my vision, i'd ask my doctor about preservision. it's the most studied eye vitamin brand. if it were my vision, i'd look into preservision preservision areds 2 contains the exact nutrient formula recommended by the nei to help reduce the risk of moderate to advanced amd progression. i have amd, it is my vision, so my plan includes preservision. i don't just play someone brainy on tv - i'm an actual neuroscientist. and i love the science behind neuriva plus. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger.

we did it again. verizon has been named america's most reliable network by rootmetrics. and our customers rated us #1 for network quality in america according to j.d. power. number one in reliability, 16 times in a row. most awarded for network quality, 27 times in a row. proving once again that nobody builds networks like verizon. that's why we're building 5g right, that's why there's only one best network. veteran homeowners, newday just announced their lowest rate ever. the two and a quarter refi. two and a quarter percent. just 2.48 apr. save thousands every year.

>> sandra: we'll see if we have somements on missing gabby petito tomorrow at this hour. consider brian laundry, the boyfriend, the fiance. they have not clarified. he's been named a person of interest. she's still missing and many days are passing. we'll see what happens next. >> john: this is a mystery of what happened to gabby. her stepdad is out in the area that she was last seen, wyoming. her father is down in florida, which is where brian lives. we heard philip holloway saying because there was a lack of evidence in what happened to her, the police even though laundry is a person of interest

may have to cut a deal with him to see what he knows. >> sandra: that was interesting from phil holloway at the top of the hour. he's parents, they're desperate for anything. if you see this face and that person, call in. there's a tipline for the fbi. >> john: you can imagine the horror for the family. >> sandra: thanks for joining us. i'm sandra smith in new york. >> john: and i'm john roberts. "the story" with martha starts now. >> martha: thanks. good afternoon. i'm martha maccallum in new york. breaking right now, a live briefing from the pentagon and no doubt they have had some very interesting conversations there today. stunning reporting that the chairman of the joint chiefs, mark milley, went behind president trump's back to assure china that he would not let the president take certain actions or start a war and if anything were underfoot, he would warn them about it first. that's one of the specific