happy anniversary mom and dad. alisyn: what a handsome couple. bill: they were and they are. thank you. alisyn: congratulations to them. bill: does anyone do anything for 50 years? alisyn: not much. bill: thanks, mom and dad. have a great day. alisyn: "happening now" " jon: our congratulations to the hemmers as well. hope your monday is off to a great start, i'm jon scott. jenna: i'm jenna lee. we are here in the fox newsroom. "happening now" is taking a closer look at stocks around the world. this is after the s&p down grades the u.s. credit rating for the first time in his 4 tree. it's been a whole weekend of talk about it, now we see some action. jon: the dow number down 364 points at this moment tickling the $11,000 mark. the dow plunging at the opening bell. we are seeing a strong sell off that is continuing through the morning so far. jenna: one of the other parts of this story happened just a few

moments ago. standard & poors following up with the downgrade of our debt with a downgrade of our mortgage giants fanny mae and freddie mac, not necessarily unexpected but another dynamic to this story. sandra smith is live on wall street with more. sandra tell us a little bit about the market reaction thus far to this news. >> reporter: jenna, jon it's not good. the markets are royaling right now in light of the credit rating being stripped. they had a chance to adjust to it over the weekend. now a new blow to the markets. fanny mae and freddie mac, their aaa rating has been stripped by s&p. the dow has been plunging triple digits. a 360 point drop we've seen in the dow today. the nasdaq, the s&p 500 dropping even more. more than 3% drops across the board and it's not just the stock market, an even weaker

sign about not just the economy but the global economy, oil prices are plunging today. we are now looking at low prices for oil in the $83 range. it's now nearly $3. jenna and jon there is so much uncertainty building in the markets and traders fear that there could be more down grades in the future. jenna: let's talk a little bit about that. eric bolling will talk to us about some of the could mod today des. some thought we would see a downgrade of fanny mae and freddie mac. we have it this morning. any other down grades we should watch for? >> reporter: certainly you have to remember that the aaa rating was only stripped of the united states by standard & poors. there are two other rating companies out there, fitch and moody's, they have not yet followed suit. of course if that were to happen that would be a new blow to the market, because as i've talked to traders as they filed onto the trading floor this morning they said that there was no talk of that happening just yet, they

felt like it was going to be one out of the three of the companies that were going to downgrade. if we were to get a surprise like that traders say we could continue to see even bigger selling in these markets. jenna: something we'll be watching for. we hear that the president will make some sort of statement today around 1:00pm earn time. we'll see if that has an effect. we don't know what he's speaking about yet. sandra thank you. we want to hear from you. today we're asking if this downgrade has or will make you change your investment strategy? you can log onto foxnews.com to cast your vote by clicking on the you decide tab. so far more than 3,000 of you have weighed in. you can also see how others are voting and leave a comment there about the economy. jon. jon: well, in downgrading america's credit rating standard & poors cited political gridlock in washington. have you ever heard of that? will lawmakers now take seriously their steps to slash the nation's debt?

congress has until the end of september to come up with a federal budget and a new bi-partisan committee will have late until november to find $1.5 trillion in spending cuts. potentially setting up another battle with the white house over taxes. mike emanuel is live for us in washington. what are the expectations for this so-called super committee. >> reporter: conventional wisdom is the top for members of congress will pick members who share the same priorities with leadership. the hope is they will act in the best interests of the country. take a listen to john mccain of arizona. >> i think it will be a serious battle, and i think that those of us are worried about this nation's security are going to have to fight hard to preserve a level of defense spending that preserves our national security. >> reporter: nancy pelosi says protecting entitlements, social security, medicare and medicaid is a priority for democrats.

if six democrats protect entitlement and six republicans protect defense spending and refuse to raise taxes, you can see the strong possibility of gridlock. jon: the cuts are do by thanksgiving but there is another battle congress has to face. >> reporter: the fiscal year 2012 starts october 1st. congress has been funding the government using continuing resolutions this year. the hope is congress will make the tough choices when they return from recess. here is connecticut senator joe lieberman. >> so, in september when we come back, after the summer break, right away we've got to start dealing with the budget for the federal fiscal year that begins october 1st. and there is a lot of work to do quickly. >> reporter: continuing resolutions just kick the can down the road on making serious budgetary decisions. the hope is congress after recess, perhaps after getting an ear full from constituents will make tough choices and spending priorities moving forward.

jon: we'll see what happens there in that building behind you as well as at the other end of pennsylvania avenue. thank you. jenna: that's a big question. for for fallout from the downgrade of our nation's credit rating one of the things we're watching today and sandra mentioned it, oil prices are down. that is a double-edged sword. good for us, the consumer if we're tkroeufg and hitting the roads but a bad sign as far as protection of the health of the economy overall. eric bolling of the fox business network is with us. let's talk a little bit that oil story. this has really been a major factor starting this year seeing higher oil prices, sees them come down back and forth. what do you make of what is happening. >> reporter: last week oil prices were $99 a barrel. there is a $16 drawdown now in the price of oil. you think it's a great thing right? it would be a great thing if it stayed there. the reason it went from 99 to 83 is because international traders are saying the american economy

is slowing down. look at the head winds they are putting up, the downgrade in our debt is massive head winds to the economy. if you downgrade the debt it makes it that much more difficult to borrow money, small businesses can't hire. that all kind of stifle else economic growth. two quarters ago we had almost no growth, .4%. last quarter .3%. you'll see somewhere around a negative or a flat growth picture for another quarter and the oil market is saying, if there is no growth in the economy, there is not a lot of demand or at least penitentiary up demand for oil prices. jenna: one of the things when we talk about the slowing economy is consumers aren't spending or shopping that much. could this potentially help get the consumer back in the game a little later this year especially with the christmas season coming. >> reporter: unfortunately this is all bad news. it may cost you a little bit less at the bump or in the grocery aisle going forward, the problem is we really risk, there

is not a huge interest rate reaction to it right now but there could be down the road. we risk a lot of bad things happening from this downgrade. we can talk about it later, another time, i'm sure you'll get into it. but the gold market is telling you there is a huge problem. jenna: let's stop there and focus on that a little bit. we saw gold go up more than 40, $50 today. >> reporter: $50 an ounce higher. gold has always been a flight to quality, a flight away from fear, and right now the fear is in all global economies right now. the ecb this morning propped up spain and italy, well you can't put your money there. money tries to find the safest place. jenna: is it just about us or about the world economy? is there weakness around the world. >> reporter: great question. like the first recession when we sneezed the rest of the world gets a cold or worse or gets the flu, this is bad. if we're sneezing right now this will be a global, ripple affect throughout all the economies. jenna: is that real gold on your

watch. >> reporter: it's real gold. jenna: that increase ned value in the last couple of hours. eric will be hosting the 5 along with his -- you've got quite a group, every day, every day at 5:00, tune in to see eric then. thank you. >> reporter: thanks, jenna. jon: police in london are searching for more suspects after a second night of explosive riots there. cops arresting more than 160 people with flames from car fires and molotov cocktails lighting up the night sky. all of this chaos comes after a peaceful protest descended into violence on saturday, this after the fatal shooting of a 29-year-old man by police. now caps say looters are simply seizing the opportunity for destruction, and some of the violence may have nothing to do with the man's death. amy kellogg is keeping an eye on it for us live from london. it's really extraordinary, this unrest taking police by storm,

really overwhelming then and it seemingly came out of nowhere. most of it is confined to the peripheral neighborhoods in london, but some of it has bled into the shopping areas of the country's capitol. enfield and brixton, the unare rest being called copy-cat. people casing shops in one area, then texting people to move to another, evading police with people into the wee hours of the morning, emptying stores of contents. this followed as you mentioned particular violent rioting on saturday night in a city which does have a problem with gangs and gun crime. the unrest started out with peaceful protest demanding answers from police who shot dead a man in what appears to be a botched arrest. it erupted into violence. the local post office and job center were torched. some people lost their homes as the mob set fire to buses and

buildings, this after mark dugan a suspected gang member was shot dead by police on thursday. jon, dozens of policemen have been injured, 160 people arrested, most striking some people are saying is the extent of the damage done to property and people are worried that this could break out again for a third night in a row. that's the latest from london, jon. jon: it seems to be a growing trend in that country unfor the this the lee amy, thank you. jenna: we have many, many big stories ahead for you throughout the next two hours, including new details about a tragedy in afghanistan. a helicopter crash that killed so many members of the elite fighting force of the navy s.e.a.l.es. we'll have the latest on that coming up from the pentagon,. jon: the financial fallout on wall street, the dow down 244 points right now. that is a little better than it was. it's spreading around the world. the s&p's downgrade of the u.s.

credit rating a big part of it. what it means for our economy, and for your bottom line. we'll go in depth. [ drew ] give me volume. not clumps or gaps. the answer... it's all in the wrap. new covergirl lashperfection mascara perfectly wraps each lash for up to 3x more volume. new lashperfection. wrap it up. easy, breezy, beautiful covergirl.

the charcoal went out already? [ sighs ] forget it. [ male announcer ] there's more barbeque time jenna: welcome back. world markets reacting after the first ever u.s. credit rating downgrade. and standard & poors is unflinching in its decision. john chambers even suggesting the chance of yet another downgrade in the future.

>> if the fiscal position of the united states deteriorates further, or if the political gridlock becomes more entrenched then that could lead to a downgrade. the outlook indicates at least a one in three chance of a downgrade over that period. jenna: one in three. that is -- those are high chances. one of the questions we are asking today, it's the big question, what does this all mean for the future of our country and for our finances as well? bob o'brien is a writer at baron's.com following this story live throughout the weekend. lots of reaction to the downgrade. let's move ahead. what does this really mean, and what is the real effect on just our families out there, and our finances? >> well the effect is you're going to pay more for any kind of a bank transaction. you're going to pay more to be able to borrow for a car loan, for a mortgage loan, for a student loan. jenna: significantly more? >> significantly more, because banks have a tendency over the years, you know, if their costs

rises a dime they charge you 20-cents. they will take advantage of the situation and use it -- essentially it's not just an excuse, there is a fundamental under pinning for this. their costs are going to go up, it's just your cost in their favor are going to go up more. jenna: one of the things we've heard over the last couple of weeks is we haven't seen markets like this since 2008, and that's when we were in it when it comes to the financial crisis. at that time we heard a lot of people come out and say this is a great buying opportunity, go shopping for stocks, it's going to come back. what have investors told you about strategies right now? >> well, i think right now it's not a great buying opportunity for stocks. i think you want to wait until you see some catalyst. you know the problem today isn't really so much our debt problem. we could pay our debts, the problem is a growth problem. we've got 9.1% unemployment. we've got a housing market that is in a mess. we've got 1.7% gdp.

i'm waiting to see some sign that there is actually growth in the u.s. economy before i'm going to say, i'm bold enough to put my money to work here. jenna: what kind of sign would that look like at this point? >> it would look like an economic indicator that showed that there was some sort of a turn around, that finally the economy is gaining traction. jenna: do you think this is a distraction from really talking about a growth plan? >> it certainly -- look, washington had this all wrong from the jump. washington should have spent the summer talking about how to grow the economy, how to create some jobs, how to stimulate growth. instead it game this piercing ideological battle where polarized sides sat there and debated philosophy irregardless of what was going on with the economy. if there is any bright side to

this and -- jenna: you're searching for that, really doing it. >> i'm really searching for it, maybe this is the kind of the kick in the. patti ann: that washington needs to be told, you know what there are real fundamental consequences to what we do. you can't just sit around and argue rhetoric like you're a bunch of college students in a dorm room late at night around a kegger, you have to take some actions. jenna: maybe if they had a kegger. >> it might have been easier. jenna: we're getting a pretty good dose of reality. always nice to have you. barron.com for bob's work. jon: a typhoon hammers china's coast bringing more than flood fears, why people are rushing from one coastal community even as some say the situation is under control. also investigations ongoing after a u.s. helicopter goat down in afghanistan. 30 american troops killed in the single deadliest incident for

our forces there. now families honor their loved ones, remembering the fallen as true american heroes. >> michael loves protecting our country. he graduated from north catholic. they were very proud of him. and he succeeded with the seals, he became an e6 in four years, four years, that's how dedicated he was. [ jon ] we don't just come up here for the view up in alaska.

it's the cleanest, clearest water. we find the best, sweetest crab for red lobster we can find. yeah! [ male announcer ] hurry in to crabfest at red lobster. the only time you can savor three sweet alaskan crab entrees all under $20, like our hearty crab and roasted garlic seafood bake or sn crab and crab butter shrimp. [ jon i wouldn'tut it my table at home, i wouldn't bring it in. my name's jon forsythe, and i sea fd differently.

jon: investigators are taking a look at the wreckage of a chinook helicopter in eastern afghanistan after the deadliest single incident for american forces in the history of that war. witnesses say taliban fighters shot down the aircraft carrying

30 american troops, seven afghans and one translator, although the exact events that transpired have not been confirmed by the pentagon. among those troops, 22 members of the elite navy seals unit, including these eight men. now devastated family members are mourning the losses of loved ones. the father of michael strange whom you see here proudly remembered his son as a dedicated and exceptional soldier. jennifer griffin joins us now from the pentagon with more. jennifer. >> reporter: jon we are getting some details about how the chinook was shot down. a spokesman for the pentagon said it looked like it was a rocket grenade, holder held. these are highly inaccurate missiles, they are not stinger missiles that brought down so many soviet helicopters and drove the soviets out of

afghanistan. one source is describing this to mow as just a very unfortunate, very lucky shot for the taliban who shot down this chinook that was flying, those special operators, the navy seals who were on stand by as a quick reaction called in by the army rangers who took fire in the tangi valley. jon: tell us about some of the seals killed. >> reporter: you mentioned 22 of them were navy seals. many of them members of the storied six. eric cars on vaughn was a special ops guy. he asked if he could return to combat and went out six weeks bev was killed. his grandmother of union city, tennessee, said he wanted to be a seal since he was a boy. he left for afghanistan two weeks after his twomonth-old daughter chamberlain was born this summer. >> i'm very proud of him. he was such a good boy, and he loved his country enough to put his life on the line.

and i talked to him on his birthday, and he said, granniy, he said don't worry about me, i'm not afraid, because i know where i'm going, he was a christian, and he said, when i get home in november i'm coming to your house to hunt. >> reporter: another of those killed has been identified as john brown of arkansas. he was a highly trained air force tech sergeant, a paramedic attached to the seal team. he was not a seal. he wanted to be a doctor his parents said but joined when he saw a video of a special air force tactical unit. here is what his friend john woods had to say about him. >> he was just an all american gi joe, just a great guy that just loved his country. >> reporter: there are 37 other stories like this one. we are told that the bodies will return to dover most likely starting tomorrow. jon: just so much sadness in

that terrible event. jennifer griffin at the pentagon for us. thank you. jenna: heartbreaking is the word. and we know so many you have feel probably helpless when you hear some of this news. i know i feel that way absolutely. and one of the questions we want to answer today is what you can do to help the navy seals community. for that we are joined by michael balmer, a board member of the navy seals foundation and a former navy seals. he's here to talk about about what we can do. the navy seal foundation. what exactly does the foundation do? >> jen a, thanks for having me. the navy seal foundation supports and swoops into action for seals who are either injured or killed in combat, or training, and we provide support for those families and for those seals. >> so many of us don't know obviously what that is like to

hear that someone has been injured, or someone died serving our country. can you describe some of the things that the foundation will do over the next several days, next several weeks to help the families? >> well, as you can imagine, something like this is overwhelming, so we jump in and fill in gaps where we are needed, things like getting the families together, providing things like lodging, airline tickets, anything that is needed on an emergency basis. jenna: if someone gives we have a couple of ways they can do that on the screen by texting or going online. how soon does their donation get filtered into the system and start being a part of this mission? >> it immediately -- immediately helps and transfers to the families, and i think beyond

that it's that showing of support that means a lot to the community. jenna: michael, if there is one thing you'd like everyone to know about this community, it's obviously a very small knit community and despite some of the latest news cycles, one that doesn't do a lot of talking, what is something that you think every american should know about how to support the community in general? >> i just want to say that these are all patriots, extremely dedicated, and they've been shouldering a lot of the weight of what has been going on over the last ten-plus years, so the community support means everything. they are going to continue driving on with their mission, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the families that have suffered recently. jenna: michael it's great to have you today, we appreciate it, and appreciate being able to talk a little bit about this

charity. michael balmer, thank you. in an effort of full disclosure as well as we've talked about a few times, jon we'll go ahead if we could put up the navy seal foundation on the screen and where to find it. it's on our home page foxnews.com. full disclosure. my husband served with the navy seals. i can vouch it's a very close knit community, but this is a way you can help. jon: those people are doing a great, great job taking care of this country in terrible dangerous places. jenna: thinking about their families today for sure. jon: the f.b.i. is launching a nation-wide manhunt for three florida siblings. they are accused of bank robbery and shooting at police with high-powered weapons. their mother's emotional plea is next. and we're continuing to watch the dow closely, down 265 points, a downgrade of the u.s. debt sending shock waves through

markets worldwide. anyone with money in the market is a tebg is affected. that downgrade, we're going to go to rome next. it is being felt all around the world. there could be safety problems with some popular cars. we'll tell you which ones and what you might watch out for, just ahead. @

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an amp hearing professional near you. at only $1,500 a pair, you can't afford to wait. that's 1-888-379-1405. call today. >> continuing our coverage on what's happening now from the acquisition center at fox news channel where we bring you satellite feeds from around the country, around the world, take a look at dallas especially, 106 degrees right now. they have had 38-plus straight days of 100-plus temperatures in dallas-fort worth. we're going to be checking with the fox weather center in a bit. up here on the dow, down 315 points right now. markets have been roiled by the s&p downgrade of u.s. debt. it is affecting really markets all over the world right now. greg burke is on remote 287

coming in to us live from rome. what's going on with the markets in italy greg? >> reporter: hey jon. very interesting. you know, this is vacation time in europe but if anybody has money in the markets they're certainly not having a very peaceful vacation at all because the markets are feeling the effects. they are down. one positive piece of news, though, from europe today, as last week we had a major scare with italy and spain, the fear they would not be able to pay back their debts, today the european central bank moving in and moving in in a big way to buy italian and spanish bonds, to the tune of some $3 billion in one day. >> it's ten-year money, it's over 6 percent, dramatically that's come down to 5.3% in italy and 5.5% in spain, a huge move in the borrowing cost to these two countries, thanks to the european central bank intervention,

buying up their bonds. >> reporter: now, over all, though, the markets are reacting to the downgrade, the ripple effect is causing almost losses all over, first in asia, then in europe, 2 percent down in japan, average, about 1 percent down in europe. it's not clear right now who's bringing down who, if it's the united states bringing down europe or europe bringing down the u.s. finally, jon, italians have been notoriously conserve nif in their investing ways, a lot of people say what many have done for decades is put their money under the bed. right now if your money is in dollars or euros, that might not even be safe but if it's in gold, you're in pretty good safe. jon ondon't we all wish we had a lot of gold! greg burke reporting live from rome, thank you. jenna: a massive fbi man hunt is heating up now, the mother of three fugitive siblings from florida, with an emotional plea for their surrender. they're accused of shooting at a police car during a

high speed chase nearly a week ago, robbing a bank in georgia with an assault weapon. phil keating is live in miami with the latest ono i guess they're kids but they're being compared to bonnie and clyde. >> they're in their 20s, they have long criminal histories and just like the movie bonnie & clyde, according to police they are about robbing banks, fleeing from cop -- from cops, and when they get too close, they open fire. the videotapes showing to police the siblings wearing full facial masks and holding an ak-47 or similar type of weapon, as well as a pistol that's fully automatic. according to police they walked into the bank in val dasa, georgia, shooting several bullets into the ceiling, ordering everybody on the ground and fleeing with cash. with started in florida, where the three had been living most of their lives. they were involved in a high speed chase, where a cop pulled them over for

speeding. they ran from the cop, going 100 miles an hour, and according to police, they turned around, two of the siblings, shooting several rounds, at least 20 bullets at that police car, disabling it, knocking out a tire but did not hurt that officer. the mother contacted by local news and with an emotional sound bite she says she wants her kids to please turn themselves in and surrender. >> you've made some bad mistakes, but so far, no one has been physically harmed. the only safe thing, the only right thing, the only good thing possible thing to do is for you to turn yourselves in. i love you. >> reporter: according to police, the only contact any of the siblings have made with anyone that they're aware of is a text message that the youngest doherty,

21-year-old ryan, sent to his mother on tuesday, saying, quote, there is a time for all of us to die. the fbi, as well as all police agencies, considering them very dangerous and well-armed. jenna: wow, what a text message of all things to say to her. do cops have any idea if they're still in georgia or maybe circling back to florida? any indication? >> reporter: new information we're getting out of val dasa, virginia, the cops say they received several tips over the weekend and a car that matches the one the suspects are apparently driving, a white suburban inpresa with a new york license plate was spotted near chattanooga, tennessee but police believe they could be anywhere, all the way as far as texas and up to new york, so billboards have been posted along the way and interestingly, the two brothers lived in a house near tampa with a bunker buried underneath the ground inside and according to neighbors the two brothers had been living in this

bunker with full plumbing and electricity. no explanation as to why they would have a bunker buried underneath their house. but it was quite secure. and the sister, who is 29 years old and has a long history of hit and runs, wrecking cars, she posted on her flicker account, quote, i love to farm and shoot guys and wreck cars. i'm a red neck and proud of it. i like causing mayhem with my siblings. and police say that is absolutely truth in advertising. anybody who spots them is encouraged not to confront them, but to call police immediately. jenna: wow, phil. we'll stay up to date on these developments. phil keating, thank you very much for this story out of florida today. >> okay. jon: federal safety investigators are looking into complaints about two very popular cars, and we could see some recalls as a result. julie banderas is watching breaking news for us today. julie, what's the latest? >> reporter: at this point, we're hearing that volkswagen jeta models and ford mustang, 2010 and 2011

models, have been recalled, and we are hearing the volkswagen jeta models are dealing with fuel transmission issues and as for the mustangs, at this point they don't exactly know why but for whatever reason some kind of transmission problem occurs when mustangs merge into high speed traffic. the preliminary investigation involves 26,000 vehicles and as for the volks waggens, there were seven complaints alleges leak alleges from the fuel lines to a fuel injector in the jeta models and apparently the probe involves about 40,000 vehicles. at this point, though, no vehicles have been recalled. that's the point in question. so obviously, they need to find more information and do more investigation. a spokesperson for ford motor company says, and i'm quoting, they will fully cooperate with the government's review. at this point, volkswagen is not commenting. these problems apparently went undetected until several drivers actually had

to call the auto administration and actually speak with safety investigators that were looking into the problem. the national highway traffic safety administration's office of defects actually received these complaints. so we'll stay on top of it. if there are any recalls, we'll let you know. jon: julie banderas, live in rowr newsroom, thank you. jenna: new fallout from the government's gun smuggling operation that resulted in high powered weapons flowing into mexico, why gun stores near our border of mexico fear being singled out. we're going to have a fair and balanced look at this coming up. plus, going way beyond a morning dip, a 51-year-old woman attempting a 60-hour swim. we're going to tell you where she's going and where she's at right now, next.

jenna: some developing stories from the newsroom, at least seven people killed, one injured, after a mass shooting in ohio.

one of the victims, an 11-year-old boy. the gunman killed during the firefight with police, and we're expecting an update from a news conference in the local area, in about 20 cannots -- minutes from now. if we hear of developments we'll bring it to you. in the meantime thousands of verizon workers striking across the northeast, the contract, for 45,000 employees, expired at midnight saturday. the union deciding to strike over issues including health care cost and pensions. how about this story in 61-year-old woman, attempting a record setting swim, diana nyaz left havana, cuba trying to swim 100 miles to the florida keys, that swim expected to take some 60 hours, nonstop. she breaks for about two minutes but she keeps going without a shark cage. last time she tried it with a shark cage. not this time. jon: my hat is off to her. wow. age 61. several gun store owners near the u.s.-mexico border

are suing the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms and the obama administration over new regulations that would require them to report multiple sales of semiautomatic rifles, the new rules only apply to gun dealers in those four states bordering mexico. now, its new fallout partially in response to the government's so called operation fast and furious which helped smuggle american guns into mexico, two of those guns found at the scene where border patrol agent brian terry was shot and killed last year. joining us now, criminal defense criminal dwayne cates, also with us, doug burns, a former prosecutor. doug, it's always been my understanding, based on high school civics, that congress is supposed to pass laws, and the administration is supposed to enforce it. so how are they getting away with passing what amounts to a law here? >> you forgot maybe the second half of that, or a college course in administrative law, jon. jon: i didn't take that course! >> which joking aside, seriously, says that

congress can additionally delegate authority to administrative agencies to engage in rule making, and as a matter of fact, there are dozens of federal agencies that create and enforce rules every day, the fda, epa, and so forth. so the question is -- you're actually right on some levels. what's interesting about this, real quick, is that congress said that if you sell more than one handgun to somebody within five days, that has to be reported, but they didn't say this thing about rifles, so that's what the claim is basically. jon: dwayne, there seems to be -- i mean, there's been this entire uproar about operation fast and furious, the atf was actually encouraging or allowing the sale of these high powered weapons to go to drug dealers in mexico and lo and behold some apparently used them for crimes, the atf knew it and botched it. is this a reaction to that? >> oh, i absolutely believe it is. and they're trying to make a regulation on these store owners and this regulation is not legal, it's not

effective, and it's not fair. i mean, as was stated earlier, there is a statute that says you can't sell more than one handgun without reporting it. now, that's a statute, okay? that was passed by congress, signed by the president. they're trying to do the same thing with rifles, without passing a statute, and they don't have the legal authority to do that. and forcing the stores that only are on the border states -- now this, isn't all stocks it's only on the border states is -- i mean, it smacks of equal protection but it's technically not fair. jon: they're not actually preventing people from buying any semiautomatic weapons or even automatic weapons, right? >> oh no, they're not doing that, and i'm not saying this isn't a good idea. what i'm saying is that it's not relate legal the way the atf is doing it. now, the atf looks bad in this fast and furious, so they had to try to do something to kind of redeem themselves, so they're

trying to look like they're doing something, but they're going about it the wrong day. jon: doug? >> real quick, it's interesting, because i think dwayne is hyper technically correct. let me explain the finer point on the pencil. the statute says the attorney general can cause the store owners to keep records, okay? so that was specifically del dello delegated but the statute says as far as actually sending them in that has to be done by a statute but that's a very fine legal point, actually. jon: we'll see what happens with the gun stores that are suing to overturn this new regulation. we'll keep our viewers apprised. thank you both. >> thanks jon. jenna: taking you back down to wall street, we don't want to lose sight of what's happening with the dow today. after two straight weeks of decline in this market the dow is trading lower by 2 1/2%. we'll keep an eye on these markets, bring you up to date with the latest market moves and bring you more of "happening now" in just two minutes.

jenna: "happening now prntion still no relief unfortunately for folks in the central plains, the dangerous heat continues with dallas seeing its 38th consecutive day of more than 100-degree temps, at this point, maria, when is this going to stop? >> unfortunately, not any time soon. yes, today will mark the 38th day of consecutive days of 100-degree weather for dal a. texas, and the forecast is for more 100-degree days coming up through the end of this weekend. take a look at some of our current heat index value, it feels like 104 in new orleans when you head out the door, 98 in memphis. that's extreme heat and it's early in the day. those temperatureless continue to climb, with dallas expecting a high of 106 degrees. there are, of course, more excessive heat warnings across the region, as well as heat advisories and some advisories across the carolinas and the state of georgia.

you mentioned dallas, texas, by friday, jenna, we should be tieing that record of 42 days of consecutive 100-degree days, our last in 1980 and we could likely break that by the weekend. we'll continue to keep an eye on this. jenna: 102 almost seems cool compared to 109, but not really. maria, thank you. we'll continue to watch it. jon: another sign of the economic tough times. more and more owners who can no longer afford to maintain their boats are simply abandoning them, dumping them in the waterways of this country, the bill to clear those boats away? guess who pays for it? you do. the taxpayer. jonathan serrie, live in atlanta, how much money are we talking about here, jonathan? >> reporter: jon, we're talking about anywhere from 3000-$20,000, per vessel, for proper disposal. depends on the size of the boat. tracking down the owners to pay these fees, however, can be very difficult, because boats change hands and sometimes serial numbers are scratched off.

even owners who are located, many of them simply don't have the money. they're in over their heads. >> they have a dream of fixing it up, then sailing, you know, whether it be coastal, around the world, and they start to fix it up, then they realize how much money it's going to take to get it into operating order and find that they can't afford to follow the dream, basically. and then it becomes abandoned, because they can't afford to dispose of it. >> reporter: now, the same economic conditions affecting boat owners are also affecting many of the government agencies trying to remove these boats, so increasingly, they're looking to the private sector for help. in charleston, for example, jon, a local car dealership chipped in to remove an abandoned shrimp boat. jon: so what's the problem? i mean, what's the hassle that these abandoned boats cause? >> reporter: well, in addition to being an eyesore, many of these boats after a while, the anchor lines wear out, the boats drift into channels, they

bump into other boats, causing damage, or even injury, and very few of these boats have working warning lights on them, so at night, they're virtually invisible. they become a huge navigation hazard. also many of these boats still have fuel inside them and over time that leaks out into the environment, jon. jon: that sounds like a mass waiting to happen. jonathan serrie, thank you. >> certainly. jenna: the dow, certainly something to watch after s&p's historic downgrade of our debt. what it means for our bottom line, just ahead. plus we're learning more about saturday's deadly helicopter crash in afghanistan. we have the latest on that mission, next.

jenna: nearing noon eastern time, and yet another shoe drops. here we are again, standard & poor's, downgrades more debt backed by our government, that includes fannie mae and freddie mac, that's the fresh headline

and we're glad you're with us, i'm jenna lee. jon: the shoe drops and so does the dow. i'm jon scott. u.s. stocks under heavy selling pressure now, wall street opening sharply lower and the downward slide has maintained pretty much all morning long. jenna: a lot of question about what would happen in the markets really but this is a doafs reality, s&p downgrading the credit ratings for dozens of lenders affected by friday's decision, in the meantime we're watching wall street, but also watching washington, if i can get the words out. ed henry is live at the white house where we expect the president to talk in about an hour, ed. what do we expect the president to say? >> reporter: jen yarks it's interesting. it's now been three days since s&p first informed the administration and then the nation they were going to be moving forward with this downgrade. the president did not speak out personally on it all weekend, his staff did, though, certainly, jay carney and others putting out statements over the weekend bashing s&p in part but also in jay carney's case, he was basically saying this a moment for both parties to come

together and show they're serious about decifit reduction, come together. secretary geithny, it's interesting, the treasury signature, you'll remember, told fox business back in april there was no way s&p was going to go forward with the downgrade. a lot has obviously changed since then. and now the secretary is telling cnbc245 the -- that the s&p got it wrong: >> the s&p has shown really terrible judgment, and they've handled themselves poorly and they have shown a stunning lack of knowledge about u.s. basic fiscal budget math and they drew exactly the wrong conclusion. >> reporter: secretary geithner speaking out because he on friday informed the president privately he does want to stick around as treasury secretary. the president wants him to stay. they think that will bring some stability to the market. but on the other side you have a lot of republicans saying that's just the opposite, that it brings instability because they think geithner has done a pretty poor job. jenna: a lot of different opinions but as we know, the downgrade happened, so here we are. we know congress is out on a break before they return in

september. in general, how are people reacting in d.c.? >> reporter: we saw some of the president's top visors like david axelrod hitting the talk show circuit and interestingly they're pointing their finger at theta party saying this is the tea party's fault because of how the debt ceiling played out, republican senators like lindsey graham say that's nonsense. take a listen: >> the fact of the matter is this is essentially a tea party downgrade. the tea party brought us to the brink of a default. >> the tea party didn't increase the decifit by 35 percent. the tea party is not the problem here. this president has failed to lead, and any other private sector enterprise, he would be fired. >> reporter: interesting, because they were asking jay carney about the fact that when it comes to the jobs crisis the administration has been saying in recent days in part it's due to the fact that the tsunami in japan hurt the recovery here, that you had the arab spring, spiking oil prices, and that's partly to blame

for the jobs situation, the recovery not really picking up here in the u.s. now when it comes to the downgrade, you see the administration pointing the finger, pushing -- pushing back at s&p but pointing their finger at the tea party. it will be interesting to see how the president frames this in less than an hour from now and whether or not he takes responsibility for this. jenna: it will be interesting and we'll be watching it. ed henry, thank you very much, at the white house today. jon: this latest downgrade sparking a selloff on wall street. it was preceded by the long drawn-out political battle over raising the debt ceiling. as we await a statement by president obama expected in slightly less than an hour, let's bring in "special report" anchor bret baier. there's been all kinds of finger pointing on capitol hill with members of congress and the senate, pointing fingers at the white house, the white house pointing back. what is the president hoping to accomplish in this speech today. do we know, bret? >> reporter: i bet you it will sound like what we've heard before from the president on these specifics, but this whole

line was ed was talking about from the administration that the tea party is to blame is interesting. if you look in perspective, in that in april, the administration, you'll remember, wanted to raise the debt ceiling, with a clean piece of legislation, that means tieing nothing to it, no decifit reduction, no cuts, no caps, nothing. had that happened, had their wish happened, an increase in the debt ceiling without anything tied to it and we didn't have this back and forth that took us to the brink of default as they describe it, what would have happened? i mean, we can't go back and steer things with that perspective, but you have to remember it in context when all this back and forth is happening. jon: the markets are reacting by downgrading u.s. debt, and yet, there would be a lot more debt if it deal hadn't passed. it's also important to remember that this deal that

happened doesn't really cut t. only caps, future spending. so if you're sitting at home and you think about cutting things you're actually taking something off the table. this is just preventing different agencies from growing exponentially and in washington that's called a cut. so -- but nothing would have happened, arguably, if the administration had its way back in april. and that's one of the things that's talked about. this $4 trillion number, while bantied around, it never could be reached, and both sides have the argument that their extremes on the left and right were the reasons that the big deal could not be reached. jon: we are about 15 months away from the next presidential election. who benefits from all of this or who loses? >> reporter: it's a great question, and i think a lot of it will play out in ames, iowa this thursday night when the next debate, we'll be hosting that debate at

8:00 p.m. eastern time, ahead of the straw poll. you will hear from the gop candidates, and we're going to focus a lot on the economy. i can guarantee you that. mitt romney is already out this morning talking about this, he's saying that this is a blame presidency, you will see a lot of candidates trying to jump on this uncertainty and this blame game, but we'll try to get them to engage thursday night in ames. jon: we'll look forward to that, thank you. bret baier. that's going to wrap up today's news from washington. you can tune in to "special report" tonight and every single night, 6:00 p.m. eastern and as he mentioned, he'll have coverage of that big debate on thursday. jenna: well, it is all about iowa. republican candidates in the 2012 race, offering strong reaction to the s&p downgrade. former massachusetts governor mitt romney and former pennsylvania senator rick santorum both taking direct aim at the white

house. >> the failure of the president to reig night this economy and to get people back to work is one of the reasons we're seeing such high levels of decifit and why the debt continues to grow at an alarming rate. we need to put more americans back to work. and i'm afraid the president is just out of his depth when it comes to understanding how the private economy works. >> yes, we didn't cut enough, but the question is, they didn't think there was the leadership in place in america to get us to a financially responsible decision. that -- that would have proved them wrong and we would be in much better shape today had we followed the past i said, that yes, i was for cut, cap and balance but i was really for balance, balance and balance. jenna: both romney and santorum were speaking from, guess where, the campaign trail in iowa. that's where we go next, a big week for the gop field with the debate set for thursday and the iowa straw poll this weekend. candidates are busy shaking hands, getting in as much face time as possible with

voters out there. chief political correspondent carl cameron is in the center of this action in ames, iowa. carl. >> reporter: hi jenna. you know, rick santorum said the person responsible for the debt downgrade is the one occupying the white house as an incumbent, mitt romney said that essentially, president obama is engaging in a blame game, finger pointing situation, rather than actually dealing with solutions, and for the republican candidates, it's all about getting president obama out of the white house and this has been described as the most important point in the campaign so far. the straw poll is an unofficial ballot but there could be 15-20,000 iowans coming to the iowa state university in ames, iowa. two of the candidates, rick santorum and tim pawlenty are campaigning here and they're going out of their way to say to folks, we'll pay your ticket, provide you transportation, we'll give you a barbecue if that's what you like, we'll have entertainment for you, live bands, air conditioned tents because this does take place, the large extent of it, outside, and raising

expectations and exceeding them for the straw poll is key. rick santorum has been campaigning out here with his family of seven for the last couple of weeks, basically camped out in iowa, trying to get a little bit of suspense going and he acknowledges as do a lot of the candidates that the straw poll is an opportunity to get momentum, particularly for those who do not have any. listen to this candor: >> i don't know what expectations are. you look at the polls, expectations are not good and if you look at media coverage, expectations are nonexistent, so our feeling is that we finish out of the basement, we've done well, given the kind of coverage that we've gotten, and i think we'll do that. i think we're going to do better than expectations here. i don't know what that means, but we're hoping to crack the top half, you know, be in the top five. >> reporter: cracking the top half is not going to win him the nomination nor the presidency but it could keep his candidacy alive, particularly by reassuring donors that they can put up money and it will be money

well spent, that's in essence what all of these republicans are hoping for, survival in the straw poll. winning would be fine but exceeding expectations shows positive momentum and really that's -- that's really what airport angling for. jenna: and putting those kids to work, right? doesn't matter their age, if you're rick santorum. handicap them, carl, who is going to win this thing? >> for weeks, maybe even months, folks have quietly mentioned that ron paul, the texas congressman who's run twice before in straw polls has the advantage. that may have subsided in large part because of the buzz that michelle bachmann has been able to generate. she's born in iowa, a congress person from minnesota next door, and she's leading in some of the polls and has had a lot of attention. for her, she's expected to take first place, so anything short of that could be a bit of a setback. ron paul may have faded, so paul and bachmann are sort of competing for first place.

tim pawlenty needs desperately to be in the top three. there's a saying in iowa, there's three tickets out of this state to the primary in new hampshire and south carolina and beyond. if pawlenty were not to make the top three, that could be devastating for him. rick santorum is hoping for fourth and herman ka -- cain of georgia faces a tough test. he broke out huge after the first two debates, scored well in the demoines register poll but in the last week or so has been quiet, saving mistakes and missteps. there's some concern amongst supporters this could be a bad straw poll. so it will really be a test. again, it's unofficial but when the iowa caucuses themselves which are six months away will have as many as 120,000 participants as well and you get 20,000 in a university gymnasium this weekend, that is a very, very accurate sample and a really good reflection almost for telling who's likely to win. three of the last five straw polls, whoever has come in first and second, has gone on to win the caucus and if

you win the iowa caucus there's a good chance you can win the republican nomination. jenna: busy times, glad you're covering it all for us. we'll be back with you as news developments, and we have to mention this again, thursday night, the washington examiner and iowa republican party are hosting this debate, bret baier is anchoring. jon: there are new details coming in on saturday's deadly helicopter crash in afghanistan, u.s. officials are now saying the special operations on board, the chin ac, were rushing towards wardack province. thirty americans were killed, including 22 navy seals. right now, coalition forces at the site of the crash are recovering the wreckage. conor powell is streaming live from kabul with an update. conor: >> error reporter jon, the u.s. military says the

operation to recover that downed chinook is underway now, three days into that recovery operation. the focus right now is on the actual structure of the helicopter which the military wants to get out of there. we believe all of the bodies have been recovered and will soon be on their way to dover air force base in the united states for the repatriation ceremony in the united states. now, some new details, a few hours ago, there was clarity added to what happened. now, the taliban claimed to have shot down the helicopter on saturday morning. the military has still not confirmed that story, but it does appear that there is some truth to what the taliban are claiming, the military says the helicopter was part of a quick response force going in to help the rangers and that the taliban say they shot it down as it was beginning to land. that is roughly what the military says right now, although we don't know for sure if the taliban did shoot it down. that's one of the things we're waiting to hear, jon. jon: conor powell, streaming

live from kabul, thank you. you can go to our website if you want to hear about how the navy seals foundation is helping to support the families of those fallen warriors, foxnews.com/happening now.

jon: dramatic live pictures coming out of london, where rioters have been in the streets. julie banderas has been watching breaking news for us. >> reporter: we want to take you live to the suburb of hackney, u.k., where looting is still going on after this weekend's riots. take a look there, an aerial photo for you. police have launched an investigation into london's worst rioting in years. it happened yesterday as the second night of violence raised new questions about the shooting of mark duggan whose death had sparked this rampage. take a look at the aftermath there, thousands of actually looted the giant electrical store, we're told, in the southern area of brickston yesterday, and gangs of

youths also pelted police with missiles. scotland yard said copycat looting has spread to a number of boroughs in the british capitol, north, east and south and caged property in -- damaged property in oxfard circus. if you've on -- if you've been to london it's a times square, if you will, a tourist area in london. several arrests were also made after youths vandalized a police car, smashed windows in infield, the north suburb of london and police were deployed in the neighborhood with two officers requiring hospital

live on "happening now". jon: keep an eye on it for us, julie, thank you. jenna: s&p's credit downgrade getting attention from wall street to main street. what about folks in washington? s&p's managing director earlier on fox & friends blaming the problem on washington gridlock and the u.s. balance sheet. >> there are two things related. one was the politics. we got to a position where we were within ten hours of having a major cash flow problem. right now, our debt to gdp has doubled since the great recession, which in and of itself is not a motivating factor, but we need to have a medium term fiscal consolidation plan i think to keep the confidence in the markets. jenna: miles mcginnis is president of the committee for a responsible federal budget, that's a nonpartisan watchdog group that takes a look at what's happening with our nation's money. military a -- maya, you have david axelrod calling this a

tea party downgrade, the republicans saying it's an obama downgrade. is this just a d.c. downgrade? how would you even phrase this? >> there are obviously three big plays here. the economic challenges we face, the budgetary challenges we face and political challenges we face and they're all real, but there's no question that the responses and finger pointing and the flurry of the press saying whose fault it is is a wake-up call, we have to have polices to get our debt down and if we don't do this, we'll have more downgrades. it'sest -- it's a taste of what to come. >> some say it was good to get a downgrade, that it is a wake-up call, that it is something that lawmakers needed to see to have any sort of reaction. do you buy that? >> i think you bring about tough change either out of leadership or crisis and my hope is this is still going to come from leadership. we're about to have this so-called supercommittee in washington, the big group that's going to come together and come up with a trillion and a half of

savings, that was part of the debt ceiling deal. i think the lesson out of this is they're going to have to go bigger than that and those 12 men and women, if they really want to tackle these issues are going to have to put together a much bigger budget deal and we come out of this having benefitted from the warning. jenna: speaking from a group that is independent thinking, not related to any one political party or another, the president is going to be speaking in about 40 minutes from now. what do you think his message needs to be to the nation, and specifically, independents, as he reacts to this downgrade for the first time publicly? >> we independents always feel a little left out but i think obviously he has to calm the situation. this has been incredibly volatile and scary day for people across the country, worrying pension, what this means for them, it's hard to translate this issue to the household but it does affect all of us. basically if this isn't the moment where he has to say we have to think about this from a national perspective instead of a partisan perspective, we will go into this election leading the

parties to entrench into what they won't do instead of how to go bigger and find the solutions they're both willing to do. jenna: what we can do. that's what we focus on, maya.[ ma thank you for coming in.le annoc thank you for coming in.le annoc we'll have more ofof possilitie. "happening now" in just a moment. ñwkó

>> that was expressed by two who knew the victims in afghanistan, 30 were killed, including 22 of the elite navy seals. nato now says special forces on the chinook were on the way to wardak province.

what happened on this mission? and how will american forces respond? here how, captain chuck nash, retired u.s. navy captain and military analyst. what do we know exactly about this mission? i know what the seems do is shrouded in secrecy. what do we know about what took place here? >> jon, the investigation is underway so we the get too far in front of the story, but what we -- what we're getting that sounds pretty reasonable right now is that these guys were part of a quick reaction force to get in because the rangers had come, were pursuing a bomb maker and a taliban leader in the tangi valley area which has become a hot bed recently as conventional forces pull out. the taliban are moving back in. so they were back here after this guy, they came under fire, engaged with the enemy, called for the backup, the backup was enroute, and they came in,

not in the normal helicopters that they fly, the special operations forces, but actually, in an army ch-47, chbs not as gunned out, as you will, up-gunned as the special operations 47 versions. so they came in, evidently they were shot down by an rpg or shoulder-fired surface to air missile. that will be vatted and determined. with you the initial reports are that it was an rpg, as they were coming in to land in a very restricted area, restricted geographically because of the terrain. so they were on kind of a predictable flight path going into a hot landing zone to relieve their brothers and arms who were under fire and engaged with the enemy. jon: it is the largest single day loss of life since the afghan war began and a particularly tough, tough blow for the seal unit there are, what, about 2000, 2500 navy seals?

and we lost 22 of them in this one episode. >> to put this in perspective, jon, those numbers are right, that's as many as there are nfl players, and in the analogy, they're very close, they are the very best of the best, and these guys, this particular team is not anywhere near the total number of all the seals that you just mentioned. so these guys are the special of special operations. they all come from the same community in that virginia beach area. and so this is a hit to the community. but i don't want to let lost the fact that there were army and air force troops killed in this thing. there is a saying that someone said that puts this in perspective that i think is germane, that to the world he was but someone, but to someone, he was their whole world. there are a lot of broken worlds around in this country today because of the events that happened on friday night, and our

prayers are with them all. jon: we have been leaning more and more on special operations forces to fight these battles in afghanistan. does this loss, does this attack, change anything in the way we approach this war going forward? >> no, i don't think it can, because the decision has been made to pull out the conventional troops, so if you don't do a counterinsurgency, you have to do a counterterrorism or go home. and so with the counterterrorism, what you're doing now is what happened here, where you have to suit up, go into an area where you don't have a presence on the ground, where you just sump into a firefight on the ground. so there is no free pizza, really. there are downsides, and there are upsides to each of the two strategies, it appears that our national strategy is now that we're going to pull the conventional forces down and we're going to go more toward a counter terror policy which is a valid policy, however, it has its own set of risks that come with it. jon: chuck nash, fox news

military contributor, chuck, thank you. >> my pleasure. jenna: we expect the president to speak a little about that mission in afghanistan, a first public statement about this. he released a statement over the weekend but he'll be speaking in half an hour, he's also going to talk about the economy, and we're going to bring you there live as these comments happen, again, 1:00 p.m. eastern time. plus brand new information on a shooting massacre in a quiet ohio town, the gunman, killing seven people before cops tomb him down in a hail of bullets. we have a live report, next. we find the best, sweetest crab for red lobster we can find. yeah! [ male announcer ] hurry in to crabfest at red lobster. the only time you can savor three sweet alaskan crab entrees all under $20, like our hearty crab and roasted garlic seafood bake or sn crab and crab butter shrimp. [ jon i wouldn'tut it my table at home, i wouldn't bring it in.

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martha: right now a police news conference underway on a deadly shooting rampage in ohio over the weekend. we are starting to learn more details about what exactly happened here. laura ingle is following the story. >> reporter: this is a very marriage crime scene, it spans four different addresses. we are hearing more about it with this tphau news conference. one neighborhood who lives across the street said when he heard the rapid gunfire break out he thought he was hearing firecrackers go off. he realized there was something terribly wrong. he says he ran across the street to his neighbor's house and found several people dead, some in a parked car in the driveway, others near the garage and others in the front door of the

house. the gunman appeared to be hunting down his victims that began with the man's girlfriend, he shot her brother, shot down four others and chased others into neighboring backyards shooting two of them before bursting into a home where others were trying to hide. >> a woman was at my porch hiding on my porch. i ran out, opened the door, she ran in the house and said somebody had shot her husband point-blank in the head. a lot of people were shot, she started screaming, my son, my son, my $11-year-old son. she was look for her son. she said, oh, my god i'm a widow. >> reporter: police say he shot the 8th victim in the home and got in a gun fight outside with a police officer and a citizen who had been a police officer. the gunman whose name has not been released was killed. an 11-year-old boy is among the dead along with two area high school students. police are interviewing people

in the area to find out what they noticed or heard before the violence erupted. the shooter was generally unfriendly, a rarity on the street and worked on his car outside of his house, that was the description by the neighbors. we'll bring you the latest once it gains available. jenna: thank you so much. sounds good. jon: the first ever downgrade of america's debt watching on president obama's watch. hours before the downgrade on friday timothy geithner agreed to stay on board at the president's request, as the administration seeks some continuity for its economic policies. how about all of this affect president obama's chances for re-election? let's ask marks melman, ceo of the melman group. and chip saltzman, head of the

mike huckabee campaign. who is getting the blame for this mess. >> nobody looks very good in this mess. i think people come out with three views. john boehner continue get the bill through his own caucus, they look extreme and uncompromising. as bad off as democrats are republicans are less well liked by the american people today. jon: chip, it's a time when a lot of republicans are saying it's a good thing we didn't compromise on some of the issues. >> there is no question, mark recheck your facts, speaker boehner got his bill through the house. it was cut, cap and balance. the democrats won't go along. that's why we had a downgrade. the democrats wouldn't go with significant cuts to make the economy stable. this is about the re-election of president obama. i'm sure he'll want to talk about the congress and george bush, at the end of the day it's about the president who has done

nothing in the first two and a half years. the aaa of this country lasted a hundred years, through the great depression but it couldn't survive two and a half years of barack obama. it's his economy, it's his problem and it's going to be a problem. >> you can fight the history battles as long as you want. the reality is simply this. you had republican members of congress standing up and saying, it doesn't matter if we default on our debt and stop paying our bills, that is one of the reasons we got downgraded because of the political problems here, and the political problems are very clear. president obama said u know what i'm willing to make big cuts and he did. i'm even willing to talk about entitlements. you've got to be willing to compromise to us. the republicans not only said no compromise when they sat down with the president in the super committee democrats are saying senator reid said i'll look something on this committee to talk about entitlement reform. what did the republicans say in if you even would consider making oil companies pay their fair share, ending subsidies to oil companies, you can't be on this committee and look at the future of this country if you're

willing to make oil companies got getting oil subsidies. *uits hurts our economy, political system and our reputation in the world. jon: folks will remember this when they go into the voting booth. the question is which branch or party of the government gets the blame. chip, it seems to me when 15 months from now when people pull the curtain in their particular voting booth they'll say, president obama owns this economy and it hasn't been looking so good. >> i don't think there is any question about that. unemployment is up, growth is down. people are making less money. the stock market is getting obliterated. we got down i graded and president obama wants to do one thing, talk about it. he didn't have a plan for the debt ceiling. he'll interrupt prime-time tv to give a speech about it. he has never had a plan. leadership is leading the country not following and right

now barack obama is not in the game and i think that will cost him his re-election. jon: he did submit that budget, mark that got zero votes in the u.s. senate. >> look the president has had all kind of plans out here. if you want to talk about the election it's going to be analytical instead of just making speeches. the reality here is the people will sit in this election in november and look towards the future and say can they see the economy getting better. if they see it getting better down the road the reality is thethe president will be in very good shape. if they don't see it getting better it will be a stuff battle. it will be a battle between the president, his skills are enormous, and his team. and the republican candidates that have looked extreme to this country and uncompromising. those are not traits that people want to elevate and establish in the president of the united states. jon: we'll see what happens in 15 months. mark melman on the democratic side, chip saltzman on the

republican side. thanks. jenna: take a look at what is happening on wall street today. the dow is trading lower by more than 300 points. live to the floor of the new york stock exchange for an update just ahead. take a look at that number. also, don't forget it's easier than ever to take your fox news with you wherever you go down to wall street or otherwise. log onto foxnews.com/mobile get fox news alert, stream live video and watch clips from all your favorite shows on the go. a? listen to this. three out of four americans don't get enough vegetables. so here's five bucks to help you buy v8 juice. five bucks. that's a lot of green. go to v8juice.com for coupons. you can count on us. whose non-stop day starts with back pain... and a choice. take advil no and maybe up to four in a day. or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. way to go, coach. ♪ but when she got asthma, all i could do was worry !

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[ female announcer ] two hours to vegas. two hours to whiten. ♪ crest whitestrips two hour express. in just two hours you can have a noticeably whiter smile that lasts for months. ♪ hi. hi. where you guys headed? i think we're here. [ female announcer ] whitening witht the wait. 3d white two hour express whitestrips...from crest. life opens up when you do. and try 3d white toothpaste d rinse. jenna: right now we are watching a wall street sell off following a downgrade of our credit by s&p. the dow moments ago down 300 points. let's go straight to the floor of the stock exchange. nicole is standing by watching all the happenings. >> reporter: we have our aaa rating gone. we've been downgraded by s&p. they warned they would do it. they did it. we are down 300 points.

the lowest we have been is 385 points. we have to peep a close eye on bank of america today. it's down over 16% right now. it's a dow component, the number one looser on the dow. aig suing bank of america today in a $10 billion suit alleging massive fraud for mortgages. so many of the bank stocks are hitting 52 heuf week grows. morgan sacks, citigroup. morgan stanley just to name a few. gold right now 1713 a troy ounce. jf morgan is looking at $2,500 a troy ounce by year-end. so we've seen gold moving higher and that's been the one area that's been soaring. the safe-haven you could say along with treasuries. no one really knows exactly where to put their money so they are running over to quit erring gold. oil is pulling back on the thoughts of a week economy and we see oil at $83.

the only good thing about oil not being a hundred or 110 is when we fill up at the pumps it will be less. we are also keeping an eye on mcdonald's which should have rise in global same store sales. that's good news for mcdonald's, it's been one of the best performers over the last week or so. that too is negative. the selling has been vast. we have about 11% loss or more on the s&p 500 over the last couple of weeks alone. jenna: you mentioned the bank stocks, bank of america in particular. there's been so many comparisons made about the market, 2008 is when we really were in the middle of a financial crisis as we knew it, nicole. does it feel the same, when you're down there? is it the same questions about whether or not our banks are okay, or is this different than that time? >> reporter: it's interesting, you can never be sure, first of all. there is a focus on the european banks, that's where part of the big problem lies. you have the ecb, the european central bank backing it low and

spain. our banks at home are fearing the fear, the fear index has been moving higher. for right now there is no run on the banks, no certain urgency about that. it's not fun when you see the selling continuing, particularly for the baby boomers who they've made it through the tech bubbl of 2000, the boom and the bust, through the financial crisis down to 6500 on the dow and some of them are pulling their money out and they are not ready to take that risk again. when you're seeing a dow down 306 points and selling day after day. jenna: a really important point there, nicole. as everyone says you have to wait until the last 15 minutes of trading to see which way the day goes. we'll be waiting and watching for sure. >> reporter: it is a roller coaster, jenna. jenna: sounds like it. thank you very much. greg. jon: i filled up two different cars on back-to-back days, dropped 7-cents from saturday to sunday. jenna: not bad. jon: not bad. i'll take it you. how debt can affect your

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megyn: i'm megyn kelly, i'm back. we have president obama, new hair, kelly's court and baby pictures. what more could you ask for? see you in less than ten minutes. jon: we'll be watching. new concerns over the debt crisis spreading to american waist lines. personal debt and obesity, both soaring in this country in the past three decades. now experts say the parallel rise is no coincidence. dr. brian russell is a licensed psychologist in kansas and missouri, so what is the connection here, doctor? >> well, i think they are rooted

in the same thing. i think that people -- societies can get spoiled just like individuals can, and when people get used to having everything that they need and then some over time what starts to happen is their tolerance for sars a tee starts to go down and expectation -gs and standards start to go up, and their focus starts to shift from the long term to the short term gratification. what you see then is people consuming in ways that are unhealthy both physically and fiscally. jon: is it possible that some of this new fiscal discipline that seems to be in vogue in this country is going to hit our waist lines as well? >> i hope so. i hope a silver lining to some of the economic hardships that we're going through right now will be that people's tolerance for scars a tee will g scarcity will go up a little bit.

my biggest concern is one for kids, we have too many kids growing up not learning how to eat right and manage money right. when i travel around the world especially to somewhere like china i don't see our global competitors succumbing to these tendencies like we have. neither one of those things bodes well for the country. i hope we use this opportunity to get ourselves back in line. jon: as a parent sometimes you have to just say no, you can't have that, you can't have that bowl of ice cream, that soda, whatever, and the politicians maybe need to learn the same thing when it comes to some of the goodies that people would like to have out of the federal treasury. >> absolutely. you know, here is something interesting the latest research on depression shows that the wealth year countries are not the happiest. fat and happy don't necessarily go together. i think that that is partly because when people have that access to excess, that excess time, leisure time to sit around

and think about all the things that they don't have that they want, the people that don't have that are too busy for that, they don't have time to sit around as much as americans do of how they would like things to be. jon: it's an interesting lesson. money can't buy happiness, that's what my parents always taught me and we're getting an example of it now, huh. >> i think so. the lesson that i grew up in, and probably yours as well was that you live within your means, everything in moderation, and i think that that is part and parcel of what helped our country achieve -- get to the height of this economic and other kinds of prom nance in t prominance in the world. when i see our global competitors doing things the way we used to do them, that is a little bit concerning. jon: dr. brian russell good to

have you on. >> thank you. jenna: twin brothers in the ohio national guard hoping america's enemies will be seeing double. we'll have their story straight ahead. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made.

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you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. jon: our nation, all of us, suffered the worst single day loss in the history of the afghanistan war over the weekend. thirty u.s. service members died in combat when a chinook helicopter went down. still there are plenty of men and women proudly signing up to fight for this country including two twins who plan to deploy on 9/11. >> me and my brother are actually the only two x-ray techs that are going over. i've got to watch out for him somehow. >> we've always looked out for each other, so might as well look after each other at war. jon: it wasn't what the family wanted, but the twins believe it will help both of them deal with the dangers of afghanistan, and we certainly wish them well. jenna: they'll join a whole host

of other brothers, though, there with them. so the family will grow, and we think about all those families that are with the service members that are overseas right now. we appreciate you joining us today on such an important news day, everybody. jon: the president speaks in just a little bit. "america live" starts right now. megyn: thanks, guys. this is a fox news alert. we are now moments away from president obama's first on-camera remarks on the big downgrade of america's credit. the s&p shocker sparking a ripple effect of anxiety throughout the global markets and raising new concerns for millions of americans who could be impacted by the decision. welcome to "america live"! i'm megyn kelly, and is i'm back. any moment now president obama addressing a growing credit downgrade and the deadliest attack on troops in afghanistan since the start of that war. first, the credit downgrade sending stocks on their later roller coaster ride on wall street. closing be s