"special report" online starts right now. >> shepard: shamu kills a woman at sea world. tonight, we are learning that killer whale has quite a history. plus a -- capitol hill. i'm shepard smith. and this is fox news. >> the cab the -- car began to accelerate without my foot on the foot pedal. >> we vice president been sitting around on our hands, when people complain, we investigate. >> shepard: now the toyota boss himself apologizes. >> i'm deeply sorry for any accident that toyota drivers have experienced. >> shepard: but a lot of questions remain and the lawmakers and public want answers. plus the school shooting just down the road from columbine

high. >> come around the corner and he was holding a big rifle. >> he pulled it and started firing at different people. >> shepard: a brave math teacher jumped into action. >> i'm not sure whether it was courage or stupidity. >> shepard: tonight, the hero tells his story. first from fox tonight he came to the nation's capital to offer apologies and promises. he is the head of the toyota motor company akio toyoda appearing before a house committee to testify about safety issues that triggered massive recalls. it's difficult really to overstate the significance of this moment. this is a man who japanese media have nicknamed the prince. the grandson of toyoda's founder. the head of a multi billion-dollar company. as one japanese newspaper put it, toyoda represents japan's corporate identity. if america loses confidence in

toyota, it would potentially effect all japanese products. one congressman acknowledged that truth today. >> we had a great deal of faith in something that was stamped made in japan, that it was of the highest reliability. and you injured that thought-process in the american public. >> shepard: today akio toyoda swore an oath before the lawmakers and people and sat down to explain how he plans to make that right. he abandoned his native japanese for his initial remarks and spoke in halting english directly to members of congress. >> my name is akio, you have my my personal commitment that toyota will work vigorously to restore the trust of our customers. >> shepard: it's important to note that he wasn't originally planning to come to this hearing, after congress invited

him to testify, he changed his mind. our senior correspondent brian wilson on capitol hill now and covered the hearing all day. what kind of reception did he get, brian? >> shep, i think it's safe to say that he got a real earful, occasionally they pinned his ears back by asking very tough questions. they wanted to pin him down to make some promises that were on the record. they expressed occasionally dismay how toyota has handled. this after akio toyoda left the room today he a areminder that people died in these incidents a woman who lost four family members in a crash talked about her son-in-law's last dying words to a 911 operator. take a listen. >> i have not heard it. i stayed away from it. i don't want to hear the rest of it. and the message was strong. he answered to the operator to hold on and pray, pray, pray.

>> that man was an off-duty highway patrolman and that crash he was involved in is the one that kicked off this entire wave of investigation, shep. >> shepard: that's a toyota company. our secretary of transportation didn't have an easy morning of it either. tell us what happened to him. >> no. really quite a surprise there. some very tough questions for ray la hood, the secretary of transportation. here is a little sample of that. >> do you believe that there is two cozy of a relationship between nhtsa and the industry? and the second part of that question. >> no, absolutely not! >> why would toyota go hire former nhtsa employees if not to engender a cozy relationship? >> there is not a cozy relationship. in the last three years we have recalled 23 million cars. >> at times the secretary of transportation, shep, in my opinion sounded a little defensive about some the questions. >> shepard: yeah. is there a sense for whether this helped or hurt toyota in

the end? >> well, i'm of the opinion, shep, that the american people really like him when they hear somebody saying i made a mistake and i'm sorry. that has happened here today. that may help. there are civil investigations there are criminal investigations, and there are continuing congressional investigations. there is still some tough days ahead for toyota. >> shepard: akio toyoda is the great grandson of the company's founder. toyota being the family name. they are told they decid decided to spell toyota car company with a t to make it lucky. to illustrate check out the japanese character with a d on the left takes 10 strokes to create. toyota with the t on the right takes only 8. in japan eight is a very lucky number. hummer vehicles are about to roll into automotive history. general motors made it official today announcing it will kill off that brand after it fell to sell to a chinese company. g.m. has been getting rid of some of its brands as part of

restructuring bid. it couldn't find anybody to take hummer off its hands. g.m. reports it will still honor owners' warrantees. in case you are wondering, none of this effects the humvees that the military uses. a different company makes those. wow, developing tonight, horror and tragedy in sea world in central florida a killer whale inside the shamu tank attacked a female trainer in front of a live audience and killed her. we are getting conflicting reports about the moments leading up to that attack. take a look at brand new video. a local fox viewer in orlando reportedly shot this seconds before the incident. it shows the trainers inside the themed park shamu stadium. witnesses say that trainer, a woman, had just finished telling park visitors what they were about to see when the whale came up from the water, grabbed her by the waist and began to, quote, thrash her around, pulled her into the water and under water. that man whose wife and daughter were on scene says it was a

horrible scene that at the time a shoe was thrown off. that the woman was taken under and he didn't know whether she drowned or how she was killed but later sea world said she drowned. officials began evacuating guests right away and quickly closed the park. but after talking to officials at sea world, police tell a completely different story from the witnesses. listen. >> the female trainer back in the whale holding area, she apparently slipped or fell into the tank and was fatally injured by one of the what else. >> shepard: they called the specific whale telly. shamu is the stage name for all of the park's what else. we are-whales. it weighs more than 12,000 pounds. this whale has history of violence. fox for central florida reporter live at the park in orlando. shannon, what's the latest there? >> well, we do know now that the trainer's name is dawn branchow 40 years old and apparently very

experienced in working with when whale andsalso very experienced in working with this specific whale. everybody here kind of scratching heir heads trying to figure out exactly what went wrong. >> shepard: now, this whale, this particular whale has attacked people before? >> yeah. actually, there are reports of twice. one a canadian trainer and then back in 1991, one of three whales that actually killed someone else. now, we do know that a few years ago in 1999 there was a man who actually overnight had snuck into the tank here just an average joe and when the folks came in to open the park in the morning, he was actually draped over that whale. this whale in the past has been controversial. there have been even documentaries done. but at this point sea world said they felt, you know, confident enough to have this whale here as they try to piece together exactly what might have set this off. >> we have never in the history of our parks experienced an incident like this in all of our standard operating procedures will come under review.

>> please bare with us, we just lost a member of our family. >> now, people were still here at sea world when this was going on right now. nobody is going near that tank where shamu is. it's likely they won't be near it tomorrow either. shep? >> shepard: shannon butler, thanks. >> shepard: fox news is on the job hunt tonight and both democrats and republicans are as well. how they are teaming up to put americans back to work. plus, we are hearing from that teenager who says his high school spied on him with a laptop web cam. he is speaking out now after new comments from his assistant principal. she says people are threatening her. from the journalists of fox news, this is the fox report. walmart's $10 90-day generic prescriptions...

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are from bph and not a more serious condition... like prostate cancer. do not donate blood until 6 months after stopping avodart. tell your doctor if you have liver disease. rarely sexual side effects, swelling or tenderness... of the breasts can occur. avodart is for men only. women should not take or handle avodart... due to risk of a specific birth defect. today's the day to talk to your doctor... about your urinary symptoms and find out... if avodart is right for you. >> shepard: you know we are. every single day in every single way fox news is on the job hunt. the u.s. senate passing a bill designed to create new jobs by pouring more money into road construction and giving tax breaks to companies that hire

unemployed workers. the president is calling it an important step forward for putting more americans back to work. the president met today with top business executives in d.c. in an effort to smooth over concerns about his economic policies. >> contrary to claims of some of my critics, i am an ardent believer in the free market. i believe businesses like yours are the engines of economic growth in this country. you create jobs. >> shepard: the bill cleared the senate today with bipartisan support. critics are still saying it doesn't go far enough. our senior white house correspondent major garrett is live at the white house tonight. what are the reasons for the criticism, major? >> there is a couple of criticisms, shepard, some are coming from democrats. this senate bill is only $15 billion, pretty small when the consider the u.s. economy is $15 billion in size and the house passed 155 billion-dollar jobs bill. some house democrats complaining about the way the senate put together highway construction

formula. but then republicans like john boehner, the house republican leader says the bigger problem is not what's going on on the jobs front but the other taxes the president is talking about for health care, financial regulation, and energy legislation. let's take a listen. >> all the uncertainty around the tax rates we are going to have at the end of this year are really causing employers to sit on their hands. and so i do believe that this issue is critically important. if we don't erase the uncertainty, we're not going to get the economy moving again and put the people back to work. >> republicans say the way to erase the uncertainty is for the president to back off all of those tax raising mechanisms for health care, energy, and financial regulation. but, shepard, that is simply not going to happen. >> shepard: major, i know you spoke with the white house advisor valerie jarrett today. what did she have to say about that? >> she said, look, republicans are focusing on things that have been proposed. she said what the president was doing with the speech today is setting the record straight on things he has already done that

in her opinion are extremely pro business. take a listen whancht we have done just in this year's budget is reduced taxes $70 billion for corporations. that's 10% reduction in the corporate tax rated. we have credits in there for small businesses. just today a bill was passed through congress to try to help create payroll taxes to induce small businesses to get going. >> and, of course, as the white house points out, shepard, the senate and its democrats will be doing more on the jobs front. there is already a second jobs bill in the works. >> shepard: major garrett live on the north lawn tonight. thanks. a fox urgent now and the u.s. senate voting to extend the patriot act for one more year. that, of course, is the bill passed by congress after the attacks of 9/11. the idea to give the government more power to gather intelligence. it became quite controversial and lawmakers have been debating whether to extend it at all. the house has not yet passed its side of this deal. the assistant principal accused of spying on a student through a

high school issued -- or school-issued laptop is now speaking out saying she did nothing wrong. a student and his parents are suing the school district in philadelphia. they claim officials remotely activated the laptop's web cam and watched the student in his home. the assistant principal told the student she knew he was engaging in improper behavior at home. today she pushed back but refused to answer reporters much questions. hear, listen. >> at no point in time did i have the ability to access any web cam through security tracking software. at no time have i ever monitored a student via a laptop web cam. >> shepard: oh, but the school admits it did indeed turn on the web cams and it did not notify students but the school says it did so only to find missing

laptops, never to spy. well, this afternoon that student responded and said the case isn't about one person at all but the decision to put the software in the computers in the first place. >> we are thankful that the lawsuit has succeeded in getting this peeping tom technology turned off. now we need to learn to what extent peeping tom technology was used by the school district or any employee of the school district. >> shepard: peeping come technology. that's what it is. this assistant principal said she is getting threatening emails as a result of this controversy. well, middle school math teacher got a lot of praise today for helping to save his students from a gunman. >> i noticed that he was working a bolt action rifle. and realized that i had time to get him before he could chamber another round. >> shepard: and he did exactly that we'll hear more from that hero teacher as they are calling him, including how he took the

suspect down, what he regrets about his actions, and how he actually prepared for something like this. he is in the cube and he is no n. focus tonight. a new look at the suspect is next. hi, may i help you? yes, i hear progressive has lots of discounts on car insurance. can i get in on that? are you a safe driver? yes. discount! do you own a home? yes. discount! are you going to buy online? yes! discount! isn't getting discounts great?

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>> shepard: we're hearing more today from the math teacher in littleton, colorado who helped stop a gunman at a middle school there. word of that shooting broke during this newscast last evening it happened there in littleton at deer creek middle school less than three miles from columbine high. the site of one of the deadliest school shootings in history. he suspect was walking through the parking lot shooting at people with hunting rifle. he had wounded one student when the math teacher david benke saw

what was happening and jumped into action. >> unfortunately he got another round off -- you were moving towards him at that point. >> i was walking towards him and then i realized it was a bolt-action rifle and he wasn't going to be able to load quickly enough, and so i grabbed him. the next thing i remember, basically is we're on the ground struggling. >> you can describe for us how you grabbed him? was it -- you can just use your arms? >> well, i grabbed him by the front like this. >> like that? >> and we were dancing around for a while. and i don't really remember how we got on the ground. >> shepard: probably went mighty fast. he and another teacher held the gunman down until help arrived. the shooter wounded two students these two. matt on the right of the screen there doctors upgraded him to serious condition at last check and reagan on the left is already out of the hospital. we're not using their last names. fellow students joining police in giving the math teacher a lot of credit for keeping this

situation from turning more tragic. "the fox report's" correspondent jonathan shouldn't with us. everybody is calling him a big-time hero. >> every kid and the parents of every kid at deer creek middle school. and in many ways it seems that dr. david benke was prepared for exactly this moment. he was a big guy after all. 5 --'6" 6'5". a college basketball player. he had thought about what he would do in precisely this situation before. >> during drills and things like that that we had, i would tell the kids, i would say, look, i hope that we can do something about it and so basically i was thinking well, you know, i promised. >> and the facebook page has been set up to pay tribute to dr. benke. at last check it had 22,000 members, shep. >> shepard: the teacher, dr. benke said while he and the other had the student on the ground, they were having a conversation?

>> dr. benke said he was essentially wrestling with the guy. at one point he was underneath the shooter. that faces were very close today and dr. benke said he held him and said why did you do this? were you a student here? dr. benke said the shooter's reaction either basically didn't make sense or just weren't really existing at all. >> shepard: from everything i have been able to read about this suspect, a lot about him didn't make sense. >> we do now know he did in fact attend deer deer creek in 1992 as an eighth grader. he dreamed of being astronaut. we got ahold of video from a local denver affiliate in which he was taking part in a 2005 nasa-funded study on muscle wasting. he talked in that video about taking part in this study. listen. >> -- watch television and get paid for it dude, it's awesome. >> now, his father has also been speaking out today. he tells us that this shooter, strongeagle was haunted by

columbine and in the past few weeks his behavior had become increasingly erratic. he had been yelling to imaginary friends and complaining that eating macaroni and cheese made too much noise. we understand he had a long arrest record, violence, domestic violence, and assault and, of course, now two counts of attempted murder, shep. >> shepard: eating macaroni and cheese. >> made too much noise. >> shepard: what did you say his name is. >> brocco strongeagle eastward. >> shepard: it's almost here. get ready the big health care summit in washington as they are calling it tonight, both sides are telling us what they have in mind for tomorrow's meeting. we're live in washington. that's coming up. (pouring rain)

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>> shepard: developing right now, we are getting our first pictures of the scene around the shamu whale attack at sea world. a woman named dawn branshow the woman seen here. trainer at that park. police say they believe she slipped and fell into the tank calling her death an accident. but witnesses, obviously people who saw the thing are telling an entirely different story. listen to what one man on "studio b" said after he talked with his wife and daughter who saw it all. >> they were at the viewing area. this didn't happen during the show it was after the show. the one they call shamu. >> talicum, the biggest whale

there, had literally charged one of the trainers, who was on the side of the pool training and feeding shamu. and apparently was upset. charged -- pulled the trainer into the water and was thrashing around with the trainer and dragged her underneath the water. >> shepard: so a dispute there over the facts. we will get to the bottom of this eventually. sea world officials say the killer whale is the same one involved in two other deaths. the park is now closed as police investigate. i'm shepard smith. this is "the fox report." it's the bottom of the hour. time for the top of the news. and we're just hours away from president obama's big health care summit as they are billing it. he has invited both democrats and republicans to tomorrow's meeting across the street from the white house. and today the president is giving us a preview of what he is hoping to achieve. >> and tomorrow i look forward to a good exchange of ideas at the blare house with some legislative leaders. and i hope everyone comes with a

shared desire to solve this challenge. not just score political points. >> of course, analysts say that's exactly what both sides will be doing, especially with americans watching on live television. the white house sent a text to subscribers just a few minutes ago asking them to watch at barack obama.com and that as the text put it, health care reform is more important than any partisan divide. jim angle is live in d.c. tonight. we just heard from the president what a republicans saying tonight, jim? >> well, shep, they are not sure if they are being set up or not, but they say they will bring their own ideas. they put 70 existing republican proposals on the web today. republican leaders pointing to one opinion poll after another saying one thing clear, the public has rejected the democratic plans. >> if the white house wants real bipartisanship, then it needs to drop the proposal it posted monday, which is no different in its essentials than anything we have seen before. and start all over. >> we have got the facts on our

side. we are going down there tomorrow, speaking on behalf of the american people who have made it perfectly clear that they want this bill scrapped and they want us to start over. >> but no signs, shep, that the president wants to do that. >> shepard: yeah, he sees this entirely differently. i hear there is last minute jockeying with the guest lists too, jim. >> yeah, republican leader john boehner sent a letter to the -- bart stupak added a provision added to the house bill barring any funds going to abortion services. that's not in the senate bill and the president doesn't support it either. no need for him to wait by the phone. but the white house did call a republican it's been courting, senator olympia snowe of maine. she thanked them for the invite and ♪ the rules established by the white house weeks ago do not allow to go around party leaders and invite who they want, shep. >> shepard: so the bottom line, what's the thinking about what to expect tomorrow? >> well, a lot of jockeying and some six hours of just dandy

political theater. the president, of course, is very good at these things. but his problem -- his biggest problem so far is that health care reform has been stem meed by differences democrats in the house and the senate. some republicans fear democrats and the president are looking to shift some of that blame away from the democrats and on to the republicans. >> they both like to shift the blame all over the place. on that you can be assured. jim angle live in washington tonight. thank you, my friend. we have come pro-hencive coverage of the health care summit. of course a complete wrap up here on "the fox report" tomorrow evening. the amount of money banks are lending fell last year at the sharpest rate since world war ii. that's according to our corporate cousins reporting at the "wall street journal." it's citing a report by the federal deposit insurance corporation or fdic. peter barnes have the fox business network covering this from d.c. peter, this report says the outstanding balances of bank loans fell in 2009, faster than any year since 1942. does that mean it's hard for folks like you and me to get a

loan. >> that's part of it u shep. especially since banks have tightened lending standards a lot in the wake of the financial crisis, during the financial bubble, banks were basically standing on street corners handing out cash to anybody with a pulse. their lending standards were very loose. but other reasons for the drop in loans outstanding could be a lot of consumers and businesses are repaying their debts or that banks are writing off more uncollectible debts. also regulators have been pressuring banks to preserve and build capital. that hurts lending. and it appears that some people and businesses just don't want to take on any more debt in this economy so there is less loan demands. shep? >> shepard: this report mentions other big problems that the banks are facing. >> there was bad news and good news in this fdic report. first, the number of banks in trouble on the fdic's problem list jumped to more than 700 in the fourth quarter from about 550 in the third quarter it won't reveal the banks' names by the way. also the percentage of loans

past due rose to 5.4%. that's the highest level since the fdic began tracking that number 26 years ago. but, banks were able to squeeze out a profit in the quarter of more than hundred million dollars and for the year, they earned a profit of 12.5 billion, which will help them return to financial health and maybe get lending going again. in the fourth quarter of 2008, shep, they lost more than $30 billion. >> shepard: peter barnes from fox business network and fox business.com. thanks. ever wondered when you are buckled in the back of the plane what's happening in the cockpit in the feds do. tonight, the national transportation safety board is telling fox news it's asking for permission to listen in on pilots' conversations. the ntsb reports it wants to use black box voice recordings to make sure pilots are focusing on their jobs. the feds can only access those recordings if there is some sort of accident. this comes after a number of recent incidents involving pilot

distraction including that one weird one when a plane overshot destination while pilots were reportedly using their laptop computers. the federal aviation administration would have to approve this request. pilots' unions as you might expect say they oppose the move. the former vice president dick cheney is out of the hospital as fox reports tonight after aides say he suffered a mild heart attack earlier this week. the fifth in his lifetime. former vice president cheney was rushed to george george washington hospital when complaining of chest pains, he reportedly underwent procedures to check heart's condition and said to be feeling good. >> we're told the former vice president will not be attending this friday's reunion breakfast for former bush white house staffers. olympics news now. cover your eyes and ears if you don't want to happen because i'm about to tell you in 3, 2 -- american skier lindsey vonn has reportedly broken her right pinky finger after a crash on

giant run today. apparently she lost control, landed hard on her hip and flew into safety netting. we are told she has not yet decided whether she will compete in the slow lump event on friday. a hit squad taking out its target using fake pass passports and disguises with. now we are learning even more killers are on the run tonight. the details and brand new video of how far suspected assassins carried out their plot. that's next. you want more? now trade ishares etfs online for free. 25 leading choices. all commission-free. $7.95 trades and commission-free etfs. expect more and get it. only with fidelity. open an account today at fidelity.com. please carefully consider the etfs' investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. contact fidelity for a prospectus containing this information. read it carefully.

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>> shepard: there is an international manhunt underway tonight for more than two dozen suspects in what they are calling sophisticated assassination. police in the middle eastern city state of dubai say that they are releasing new and exciting details on the case, including video of how the assassins planned the murder. authorities say the suspected hit squad used fake passports and disguises to take out a leader of one of the most notorious terrorist groups.

it's an investigation that stretches all the way to australia. >> dubai police have identified 15 additional suspects in the hit squad assassination of a hamas commander. 13 of them used european passports and all of the new suspects are said to have provided logistical support to the original 11 members identified with the hit squad. bringing the total of people identified to 26 they used bogus passports from all over europe and credit cards from america. because it happened in the security conscious modern city of dubai, loaded with cameras, police there continue to produce video of people they say were part of the assassination. they stroll casually, changed clothes, put on wigs, even ride the same elevator as the target. his name was mahmoud alma cook. palestinian rocket smuggling and kidnapping and killing of two israeli soldiers. his body was found in the luxury hotel two days after cameras watched suspected assassins

follow him to his room. dubai authorities say there was a second cell patrolling another motel where he often stayed. after the hit, the alleged assassins and their support crews quickly left dubai and scattered around europe and asia. some, according to police, even took a boat to iran. although everyone suspects israel's spy agency killed him, israel hasn't confirmed and unless forced never. will still, former chief of staff said publicly just because it's suspected israel has achieved deterrence. would be attackers fear -- and long reach of the masad. in jerusalem, mike tobin, fox news. >> shepard: fox extreme weather alert now. forecasters are calling it a snowa-caine. another winter blast. one more spousal than the deadly storm that hit the region this week and killed at least three people. our chief meteorologist is with us rick reich mouth is with us.

>> not a typical nor'easter because it backs back towards the west and plants itself right across this area here in the northeast. take a look at the weather maps. we are going to be talking already about the snow and rain we have seen moving across the area. now down towards florida. we have got severe weather tonight, shepard, potential maybe for an isolated tornado. that he was the storm that is going to explode over the next 12 to 18 hours out across parts of the atlantic. you see the snow on the left there out across parts of pennsylvania and new jersey. and then you have got the blue over towards the right. that little line there cuts right across new york city. new york city may be seeing 6 to 12 inches of snow or may be seeing all rain. it's a really tough one. as you head over towards paths parts of pennsylvania and new jersey and upstate new york, we are going to be talking about a pretty significant snowmaker. this is a pretty reliable model. snow down across parts of the appalachian. some areas it leaves 2 feet up towards the poconos: go over towards boston, probably pretty

much all rain. >> shepard: that's unusual. they usually get spanked. >> they do. this one is going to be more rain for them. >> shepard: i'm looking forward to june. [ laughter ] >> shepard: thank you, rick. >> can't come soon enough. >> shepard: let's get to haiti. food agencies are struggling to clean and shelter thousands of people left homeless by the earthquake. need for clean and sturdy housing is becoming more urgent there as the nation's rainy season approaches next month. we have h. heard reports of recent months covered in mud and exposed to disease because the terrible sanitation conditions. the conditions on the ground in port-au-prince are being compared to new orleans after katrina. but now an architect based in miami who had a hand in the recovery effort has come up with idea to try to help solve some of hatey's housing crises. steve harrigan is live in our florida newsroom tonight. what are they thinking? >> shepard, to build a house that's going to last in haiti is an enormous challenge. on the one hand you have to have

material to strong enough to stand up to hurricanes and flexible enough to survive earthquake. concrete billings became death traps in the latest quake, poorly reinforced structures that pancaked the residents inside. these mold homes by the company in miami are made of a composite material used in airplanes. this house here is supposed to be for 8 people. you can tell it's a little tight with four banks stacked on top of each other. certainly a big improvement from the tarps and the tents that many people in haiti are living in now the architect famous for designing katrina houses said those would be palaces in haiti. >> we have had to adjust downward three and four generations of design to finally understand what it was like to -- what a dwelling in haiti had to be like. >> one thing the houses do have, their own sewage systems. swedish made bags that use chemicals to turn waste into compost. the company plans to donate 1,000 homes and raise money to

build more. but a distribution plan still needs to be worked out. just giving out rice in haiti takes heavy security, so you can imagine how difficult, how complicated it's going to be when they try and distribute free houses. shepard? >> shepard: steve harrigan live in south florida tonight. thanks. new reports today that team obama may already be focusing on strategy for the next presidential election. but the white house says it's just simply not true. and the president has plenty of other things to think about and do right now. which side is closer to reality? well, think of any politician who is not thinking about running for re-election and just quiet down, would you? we'll report. you decide coming up. one of these will get you more than half way to your five daily servings. v8. what's your number? over a million people have discovered how easy it is

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>> shepard: there is more trouble in greece. at the presents of thousands of workers are now on strike in the

largest work stoppage there since protesting began against the cutbacks the government is planning to reduce greece's crippling debt. there was a march through central athens and clashes with police followed. here, look. the strikes have grounded flights, stopped cargo ships, and ferry runs, and stranded many commuters. state-run schools and offices closed and public hospitals forced to use emergency staffs. fox news is america's election headquarters and president obama claims he is not even thinking about his re-election campaign right now. that's what's being said in public. but, behind the scenes as is so often the case with any politicians, his team is reportedly already planning for 2012, even with lots of democrats worried about this year's congressional races. wendell goler is live at the white house tonight. wendell? stunning, really. >> shep, politico says the president's 2008 campaign manager david plouffe has been

holding informal talks with others involved in that effort. some, including counselor david axelrod work here at the white house, others including plouffe himself do not. the president's advisor valerie jarrett told us earlier today no one here is thinking about 2012. >> with the magnitude of challenges facing our country right now i can assure you the very last thing president obama is thinking about is planning an election campaign. that's not what he was elected to do. >> former presidents clinton and george w. bush didn't announce their re-election bid until the spring of their second year in office. though informal planning may have begun earlier. historian steven hess says that's the evolution of a permanent campaign. >> it's a permanent campaign because it's so expensive. it's a permanent campaign because the media has gotten so complicated. >> democrats on capitol hill are concerned that any energy put toward 2012 could detract from the current push for reforming the nation's healthcare system,

not to mention the congressional elections later this year. but steven says those elections are largely to be about mr. obama himself. he says tomorrow's health care summit could help determine whether the president is able to help convince voters he is the one who has been pushing for bipartisanship and republicans are the folks who have been saying no. shepard? >> shepard: wendell goler on the north lawn tonight. a massive landslide buries dozens of people rescuers are scrambling to find them. top stories as we go around the world in 80 seconds. indonesia, officials say the mudslide left more than 45 people dead or missing days of heavy rain caused the ground to give way at a plantation on the main island of java. most of the victims were field workers who lived in huts on site. west bank. [explosion] >> palestinians and israeli soldiers fighting. the clashes began after israel decided to recognize a shrine in the area as one of its own

national heritage sites. both just and muslims consider the site holy and both sides claim the land. palestinianian leaders say the decision could lead to a religious war. a spokesman for the israeli prime minister disputes that saying members of all religions can worship at holy sites. colombia. three people in the hospital after jumping into a bull fighting ring in the northern part of the country. bun one of the guys actually charging the bull. the event an amateur bull fight so folks from the audience are allowed to hop in the ring. we're told these three guys are expected to be okay. brazil. not what this thief had in mind. he tried to make a discreet entrance at a bar but got trapped in a chimney. firefighters had to break through the brick chimney to free him. and that's a rap on this fox trip around the world in 80 seconds. the british military reports he found a series of roadside bombs

in afghanistan and saved who knows how many lives he did it all with a wagging tail. tonight, the dog that sniffed his way to a canine courage medal. that's still ahead. this country definitely needs to focus on other ways to get energy. we should be looking closer to home. we have oil on our shores. natural gas can be a part of the solution. i think we need to work on wind resources. they ought to be carefully mapping every conceivable alternative.

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roadside bombs strung together before a military convoy was about to drive by them. then he did it again a month later. that's when the british army nominated him for a medal, the nation's highest honor for military animals. >> treo's actions and devotion to his duties while in the throws of conflict saved many lives. >> shepard: today's ceremony in london included a special message for military dog handlers in afghanistan. >> i think it's brilliant that troe has been given this award. shows hard work -- >> shepard: well done, indeed. treo is now retired and enjoying new duty as sergeant hayho's family pet. updating some of fox top stories tonight, a killer whale at sea world in orlando today killed a 40-year-old female trainer reportedly in front of a crowd of horrified onlookers. and the japanese president of toyota today testified on

capitol hill about the automaker's massive recall akio toyoda apologized for recent safety problems. and on this day in 1968, u.s. and south veems vietnamese recaptured bringing the offensive to an end. less than one month earlier north vietnam had launched a massive sneak attack on the first day of the vietnamese lunar new year, communist forces overran five major cities, several american bases and dozens of south vietnamese provinces. within a few days the u.s. managed to retake most locations except for wey. what follow dollars was house-to-house fighting. in the end the north gained little territory with the offensive. it did succeed in one regard drawing america deeper into war. a brutal offensive was stopped in its tracks 42 years ago today.