Friday August 2, 2013 Happening Now - Epic Battle Shaping Up Over Obamacare; Warning on Terror Attacks

U.S. embassies in several Muslim nations will be closed Sunday because of an unspecified threat. Apparently the government has picked up signals Al Qaeda may be planning attacks on U.S. facilities in several parts of the world.

House Republicans are planning their 40th vote today to repeal the President's signature legislation.. the Health Care Overhaul. The measure being voted on today would stop the IRS from implementing any part of Obamacare. It won't go further than the House. It comes as Democrats and Republicans both plan massive publicity campaigns for and against the law. A critical deadline is quickly approaching. On October 1st, the health care exchanges are set to open. Starting next year, all Americans will have to have insurance. The Washington Post today reports on "Enroll America," just one of the groups working to get the uninsured to sign up. Heritage Action, a conservative group, is planning anti-Obamacare town hall meetings across the country. Progressives are planning to protest at those town halls. Both liberal and conservative groups are also planning massive commercial and internet advertising campaigns. It's getting pretty interesting.

Congress is set to leave for August recess (must be nice) without passing any of the spending measures needed to keep the government running this Fall.

We get monthly jobless numbers for July today. Economists are expecting a drop in the unemployment rate from 7.6 to 7.5%. Yesterday both the Dow and the S&P closed at new record highs.

Bus drivers in the Phoenix suburbs set to strike today. Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) workers in Northern California set to strike on Monday.

The defense for reputed mobster Whitey Bulger is getting closer to resting their case. The elderly suspected Mafioso is on trial for racketeering.. including playing a part in as many as 19 murders. We still don't know if he will testify in his own defense, but we'll talk about this remarkable case with our legal panel.

If you watched the show yesterday, you saw some of the most compelling courtroom action we've seen.. as Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro was sentenced to life in prison plus 1000 years. Harris Faulkner recaps it for us.

We're awaiting news on baseball's crackdown on players using performance enhancing drugs. We could get word of as many as 14 suspensions as soon as today.

That didn't last long. Iran's new president had sent some softening signals, but now he's supposedly calling Israel a wound that needed to be removed. Israeli leaders are not amused.

Speaking of not amused, President Obama is threatening to cancel high level Russia/U.S. meetings after Russia granted NSA leaker Edward Snowden asylum for a year.

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