>> steve: all right. coming up in the after the show show, we'll hear from the shark hunter's mother as we hear hunter talking about huh, mama? mama and daddy will be on the after the show show. >> brian: who have you booked for tomorrow? >> juliet: i booked karl rove personally. michelle malkin. >> brian: good job. >> steve: what a show. we'll see you tomorrow. in the meantime v a great day. we go now to the 12th floor and "america's newsroom." guys. and hello everybody, we've got a potential monster on our hands with this hurricane irene, because it is rapidly gaining strength, that is the latest report, it's a category three storm, it's got winds of nearly 115 miles an hour and it is taking aim, squarely, at the u.s. coastline, good morning, everybody, i'm martha maccallum here in "america's newsroom". gregg: it is a big one, martha. i'm gregg jarrett in for bill hemmer. evacuations already underway on a very small north carolina barrier island, hurricane irene is threatening hundreds of

miles of highly populated coastline, millions of americans told to be on high alert, emergency managers from florida to the carolinas, getting ready. martha: we've got team fox coverage for you this morning, phil keating is live in nassau, the bahamas, we'll get to him in minutes now. let's first get to maria molina, she has the latest from the fox weather center. >> reporter: that's right, irene has been upgraded to a hurricane category three, sustained winds of 115 miles per hour, it has rapidly intensified. yesterday it was a category one, now a category three storm, hitting the seen bahamas with hurricane conditions now and it's a very large storm system. we're still seeing impact acomes portie roebg -- puerto rico with showers, also the dominican republic and portions of haiti. it's much more organized, a lot of deep convection, a lot of heavy rain across the southeastern bahamas now, looking at accumulation of up to 12 inches across the

bahamas, and that's going to be the story as well as that storm system continues in a north western direction. there are also the winds, even though they're sustained at 150 miles per hour you could see stronger wind gusts, and that storm surge is a huge concern across the bahamas, if you're near the center of the storm or the areas with onshore flow you could have water levels as high as 11 feet above normal levels and that storm continuing northward, north carolina, he'll have to keep a close eye on the storm, martha, especially cape hateras as it could be potentially moving on hor shore and even if it doesn't do that, still look at a big impact. martha: is that the most of -- area of most concern? >> cape hateras and as that continues, you'll have that on shore flow, watch out for beach erosion, also the tropical storm winds continue to outside the storm so even if it doesn't

make landfall in your area you're looking at gusting winds and residents of the northeast, heads up, this storm heads north and has the potential to impact the north as well as we head into late sunday and monday and tuesday of next week, with heavy rains, gusty winds and possible beach erosion. martha: this story is going to be on our hands, clearly, for the next few days and people watching it closely and getting more concerned. maria, thank you very much. gregg: let's head south and see what's going on, let's go to phil keating, live from nas kwrau, bahamas, the next stop for irene. let's take a look at that, a beautiful day behind you, phil. is the tiki bar already packed? >> reporter: no, no, this hotel is closing down, and evacuating, everybody in it, in a couple of hours from now. but you are absolutely correct, i was surprised that it wasn't raining when we woke up this morning, the outer bands of hurricane irene yet to actually come to shore here on new providence island which hasn't been smacked by a

major hurricane in about eight years, but the island seems to be pretty prepared, hurricane shutters up on most of the buildings and homes and sandbags around doorway, like i said, this hot property has been completely evacuated, there's a lot of tourists stranded on the island. by 8:00 tonight, this gorgeous morning will absolutely be gone because that's when the center of irene is expected in the central bahamas. the bahamas are made up of about 700 islands currently, the far eastern, southeastern edge of the bahama island chain is now getting those tropical storm rains. overnight, turs and cacos suffered flooding, a whole lot of rain a. few people did die over there but right now the hurricane warning is off of turks and cacos, it's a tropical storm warning and it's moving towards the central bahamas, around 8:00, it should be the eye or the center of the storm, smacking here. one thing i can tell you

with certainty, the worst is absolutely yet to come, and it's probably about # to 11 hours away. gregg: phil, look, a lot of beautiful beach property down there, lots of hotels. are those structures pretty sound in terms of their structural integrity, are they prepared for this kind of thing? >> reporter: i believe they are. the hotel we're staying at, you can tell it's been here for a number of decades, it's still standing, there's a number of very large resort properties, hotels with about 600, 700 rooms, and so you know, this is the slow tourism season in the bahamas and the carribean because this is the hurricane season. but these buildings have remained standing for decades. the big issue is going to be this anticipated 7-11 feet storm surge, and rains possibly as much as 15 inches of rain. very flat island. gregg phil, get out your scuba gear, phil keating in nassau, the bahamas. martha: enjoying the last

few hours of sunshine in the bahama, but look at this thing, a lot of folks in north carolina, k-s you might imagine, are not taking any chances, evacuations underway in the outer banks areas, many folks remain hurricane isabel that hit in 2003, that made landfall as a category two before it cut a new inlet in hataras island and killed one person. listen to this. >> we have boarded up our windows, we went out and got a few supplies today, not too many, but before everybody else wiped everything out. so we're going to see what happens. >> it's a big storm, even if we don't get a direct hit. expect the worst. it could happen. >> plan for the worst and pray for the best. that's what we do in north carolina. and we know how to do that. and then be assured that our system is in play. martha: sounds like pretty good advice. some places in the outer banks, you can only get out of by ferry. forecasters saying that the small barrier islands there

could still feel irene even if it doesn't make a direct hit, and that's one of the big things in this, category two, three, even one, doesn't necessarily make that much of a difference, gregg. it's the wind, it's the rain, it's the area that it impacts. so everybody really has to be ready for this one. gregg: those folks in hataras, okakoke island, it's largely unprotected and always seems to get hit first. all right. one of the stunning things about irene is the sheer size of this thing. take a look at the storm from space -- courtesy of nasa astronaut, the international space station snapping this pic, showing the swath it covers. look at that. as soon as we get the next update from the national hurricane center on irene, we'll be bringing it to you live. martha: irene on track to become the first hurricane to hit the u.s. in three years, that's more than 1000 days. ike was the last one, that was back in 2008. it's also the first major storm to hit north carolina

in seven years. the last one we just mentioned a moment ago, that was isabel and that hit north carolina back in 2003. in fact north carolina on average takes a direct hit from a hurricane every ten years. so they have grown unfortunately used to this, from 1851-2010, there have been 72 tropical storms that have made landfall in north carolina. we're going to go to the carolina coast in the next hour, we'll see how folks there are getting ready for this one. gregg: and now to the battle for libya, a defiant moammar qaddafi whose whereabouts are still unknown is somehow able to communicate. in fact, he is over the radio waves and telephone lines urging his supporters to free tripoli from, quote, the devils who have overrun it. he repeatedly refers to them as rats. just yesterday, this was the scene out on the streets.

>> [gunfire] >> rebels celebrated after overtaking qaddafi's compound in the capitol. we are now getting reports of fresh gunfire in the area, including where our own steve harrigan is standing by, live, with a report from tripoli. steve, tell us what's happening. >> reporter: you can pretty much hear what's happening. [gunfire] >> mainly celebratory gunfire, not a cause for concern. what we're seeing are rebel fighters now converging here on what was known as green square, now known as martyrs square. that's a very loose organization of fighters. we've seen them make their way to tripoli. they're here now, a lot of pickup trucks, with antifire air guns. it's a sense of celebration here. there are pockets of qaddafi resistance, especially around the hotel, but a much calmer atmosphere, really at the celebrations, at the

checkpoints, they are in control over overtaking the qaddafi compound yesterday. of course, emotions are spilling over not just with the gunfire but with older citizens who have lived with qaddafi for the past 40 years. this man here has seen personal loss. how do you feel today? >> this is one of the most important days and happennest days for all the libyans, to kick qaddafi out. it's a day to remember, for my brother, for my brother, qaddafi hanged him in university, and thank you for all the people who helped with this revolution, for the future, and -- >> >> reporter: he's spilling over with emotions, his brother was hanged by the qaddafi regime, so a real sense of personal loss

and remembrance in the midst of this celebration. a real cause for concern, i think, too, because while the mood is good now, we're not seeing real looting outside of the qaddafi compound. it is to say the least disorderly, extremely loud, a lot of gunfire, and this command, this army, really doesn't answer to a single command structure. they are mainly grouped by where they live and who they obey. so things good now, things happy now, but there's not a police force, there's not a sense of one figure in charge here, so it's a real concern for people i think hearing those gun shots around this city of 2 million people. back to you in new york. gregg: you are such a veteran of various war zones and i've heard you say you can really tell a difference between celebratory and those engaged in fighting. we're obviously hearing gunfire in the background. are there pockets of resistance in gun battles still going on, any way to know that? >> reporter: we'll slowly

pan around to show you some of the fighters. you can see the guns pointed at the sky. that's not without danger. those bullets do come down. the scene is, some of the weapons look like they're out of mad max, you have cutdown, pickup trucks, enormous weapons mounted on the back. this is an army that has made a lot of mistakes, it's often overrun its goals and had to retreat but they're here now and the sense is at least among them that they are here to stay. there are still dangerous areas, especially around the ritz hotel, their government fighters are still entrenched and also there are cities under qaddafi country, the city of surt, still flying the green qaddafi flag. so while there's a sense of celebration, we have seen celebrations in the past, in the six months in this war, celebrations which changed suddenly into a run in the other direction, but no sense of that happening

right here, right now. these rebel fighters are certainly having their day in the sun. and gregg, if i'm rambling on too long, let me know, but you said compare this to other things that we've seen in the past, and you do see a lot of similar pictures after the fall of saddam hussein in iraq, you saw the looting of the presidential compound yesterday, stomping on pictures of qaddafi, looting that palace as well, just like we saw similar pictures of saddam, but somewhat of a different sense here, i'd say. these libyan fighters, even though they were enormously helped by nato air power, that nato really led the way, bombed the way, took out qaddafi's heavy artillery and enabled their victory, there is a sense that these rebels have skin in the game. because there was no real visible ground presence of foreign troops they have a sense that they've won, that they've done the fighting and they've kicked out colonel qaddafi. hopefully that will make things better in the near term. gregg: steve harrigan, great

reporting, we'll check back with you, thank you very much. martha: one big piece of that puzzle, where is qaddafi, you hear from the man whose brother was hanged by qaddafi forces, so many like that and they want to know that qaddafi will see justice. that part of the story is yet to be told and those are a few of the stories we're following in "america's newsroom". coming up, a freshman senator to the rescue. how marco rubio saved the day for nancy reagan. gregg: and a new low for president obama's approval rating. we're going to take a close look at the disappointing numbers and what they'll mean for 2012. >> martha: and a rare east coast earthquake rattled nerves on the ground hundreds of miles from the epicenter. we're going to tell you what that could mean.

martha: there's the election music and with that we have brand new poll that is show republican presidential candidates really jousting right now for leadership position. according to public policy polling, a democratic leaning poll, texas governor rick perry is now leading the field of the gop contenders at 22 percent. he has bested mitt romney, at 19 th-rs, bachmann comes in at 18 percent, ron paul is 16 percent in that mix. let's bring in previous chairman of the republican national committee, always good to have you, good morning. >> good morning to you, thank you. martha: talk to me about your reaction to that poll and the fact that perry who's only been in this race for a very short time is now in the number one spot. >> well, i think you're going to see this poll -- these polls all over the place. i think it's good for our party. i think that the more we have these candidates out talking to the people of this country, in iowa, new

hampshire, south carolina, the better -- i mean, it's media, it's getting on television, it's getting in the news print, getting to back yards across america, making the case that this president has been a disaster for this economy and all, with their own take on how they can improve things, i think is a good thing for the part, my take on the polls is -- polling is we're going to be talking about poll fog a long time and the fact that we're talking about all of this, who's ahead, who's not, i think it's great for the republicans and beating barack obama. martha: let's take a look at the ron paul -- it's interesting, ron paul, head to head with president obama. he's only -- this is a nationwide poll, he's only lagging the president by two percentage points. we've spoken to mr. paul several times in "america's newsroom". do you think that he is not getting a fair shake for the way that he's presenting in these polls? is he not being treated equally with these other candidates out there by the media? >> well, i mean, i think the candidates have -- i think

that he's getting a fair shake, but i also think that it spells good news for ron paul, and these issues -- ron paul has been championing these issues in regard to our spending and our debt and the fed, and you know, the fact that these issues are mainstream conversations now that we're having at dinner tables across america, i think that's a good thing and think that ron paul should be credited for a lot of these things, and you know, it all goes back to our economy and i think that these polls that show all of our candidates within striking distance of the president all go back to the fact that americans are not happy with the direction that barack obama has taken this country. that's what this is telling americans across this country. martha: there's a piece this morning in politico that talked about fund raising and it says that despite the fact that the house of representatives is dominated by republicans now, one unnamed source in that piece says that he's shocked that republican fundraising is

$24 million behind the democratic committees at this point and that is the -- that responsibility to a certain extent falls on your shoulders, does it not? >> to a certain extent it falls on all our shoulders but the reality is when you have a president who's campaigner in chief and transfers in multiple millions of dollars into the dnc, if you take out obama's transfers, we're doing better than the dnc, in fact, and just this last month, i think we were $800,000 behind the dnc overall, but obama transferred $2.2 million into the dnc. it would -- we'd have been well ahead of them. when you have the white house and a president that gives fund-raisers every single night and is collecting one and two and $3 million at a pop, you know, that's hard to compete with. so i think the fact of the matter is in spite of the democrats' money, you look at the polling, we're doing very well, and i think that he's going to go down no matter how much he raises. martha: lots more to talk about and we taw, thank you,

reince preibus. >> thank you. gregg: the white house is calling on streamlining thousands of regulations, the cure for small businesses, but many say the regulations are the problem. we'll have a fair and balanced debate on that, coming up.

martha: all right, let's get a look at some of the stories developing in "america's newsroom". we've got new video of russian president dmitry medvedev, take a look at this, his first trip to russia since 2002, the north korean leader looking frail as he limped into the meeting hall. interesting video, you don't see every day. how about this, an apellate court upholding a judge's order that casey anthony must return to

florida. she left the state last month after a jury acquitted her in murder charges against her daughter, the rule requires anthony to serve a year of probation in another conviction she got on check fraud. gregg: all right. did you feel it? that's the question that is sort of echoing throughout the east coast, a rare 5.8 magnitude earthquake, sending shock waves from georgia to canada. no deaths or serious injuries reported but folks close to the epicenter, well, they definitely felt it, homes and businesses like this grocery store near mineral, virginia, absolutely trashed. here's how people say it felt: >> we thought maybe the train hit into the building! then it looked like earthquake, then we left. >> on a scale of 1-10, the earthquake today was definitely a 12. i don't think anyone in town has been as shook up as we were today. gregg: no kidding.

doug mckelway is live at the epicenter in mineral, virginia. doug, how is the damage there? talk to us about that. >> reporter: we're standing by at the louisa county high school and from the exterior of the school you would notice something amiss at all, the inside tells a very, very different story, in fact, the damage, severe enough here that school kids in louisa county, virginia, the central part of virginia, are going to be enjoying another two weeks of summer vacation. they have announced that schools will not be reopening until after labor day. we spoke to a teacher here who described how he had just finished a class when the earthquake struck, they had been doing roofing work here, he said to himself that the roofs are being especially noisy today, he said no, that's not roofers, they're train tracks, trebgtly across from the school a block away, that's a freight train derailed, and he said no, it's coming down the hallway, at that time, he realized that the ceiling tiles were falling out, this was the time to get out of here. i went to get coffee at a

local diner and spoke to folks there, a waitress told me she didn't notice the quake because she was in her car at the time, it of not only she got home and got into the front door and thought her house had been ransacked and that's the kind of damage that people are seeing here today, a lot of people seeing crystal fall from their walls, pictures falling down, a lot of antiques falling down, so it's a quiet morning here as people sweep up a lot of glass in louisa county, virginia, gregg. gregg: look, the fact of the matter is, seismologists will tell you that earthquakes happen every day, we just don't feel them because they're small, minor ones, this was a fair -- fairly sizeable one, 5.8. do people there regard this as a freak occurrence? >> pretty much a freak occurrence. this is relatively, comparatively, a stable geographic region of the world so when earthquakes occur here, most don't feel them. governor bob mcdonnell put this in perspective for us

yesterday. >> interestingly, this is the largest earthquake on the richter scale, in about 114 years, since may fifth of 1897. there have been other events since then, including one here about seven, eight years ago. but this is the largest measurement on the richter scale. >> reporter: in the 19th century, there was no way to to measure earthquakes, the way they did it was looking at the damage, basically the same way they did it -- do it today, a lot of chimneys toppled down, a a lot of furniture upended and that's how they determined the earthquake in 1897 that the governor just mentioned. gregg, back to you. gregg: nowadays they don't really use the rickster scale. people use the term, though. doug, thank you very much. martha: i was driving. >> gregg: were you? i was in a cab. so same thing. martha: yeah, it definitely means you don't feel it, but i was amazed at the amount of space all across the east coast, all the way to martha's vineyard, and geologists are trying to

explain why this quake was felt over such a huge stretch of the east coast. in laymen's terms, the rock formations that make up the east coast are just older and more settled than the rock formations that make up the west coast, so as a result, the tremors travel farther through the earth here, on the west coast, the quakes of course are more frequent, stronger but they aren't felt as far away from the epicenter. gregg: in los angeles, you hear about it all the time, i used to literally sleep through them or go earthquake, go back to sleep. you k-bg so accustomed but not here. martha: not here. mag mag -- gregg: there was definitely a freakout factor here. martha: that was unnerving, my blackberry started -- so you know what, we still have another big thing to deal with in terms of mother nature and that is hurricane irene, which has gained a lot of strength in the last several hours. take a look at this. it's 115 miles per hour,

category three, and everybody is saying this one could be very bad. we're going to go to the national weather center, hurricane center, we'll get the latest that is about to come in on the track of the hurricane. gregg: rebels in tripoli preparing for a qaddafi-free life after 42 years.

march well, we are keeping track of hurricane irene, a dangerous category three storm, clearly poses a threat to several places along the east coast of the united states, from the carolinas, all the way up to maine the next couple of days, so evacuation evacuationse already underway on north carolina's outer banks. what can we expect in the days ahead from this monster storm? joining us on the phone from miami, bill read is director of the national hurricane center. bill, welcome, good to have you here. what's the latest on irene? >> reporter: good morning, martha, and your listeners, we've got irene is in the southeast bahamas, aircraft flying this morning has confirmed that it is intensifying as forecast and is now 115 miles per hour, category three hurricane. it will be moving slowly towards the west-northwest and west today and mostly through tomorrow through the bahamas and of course a lot of the interests on the east

coast are paying attention with these that are moving northwest and north, so the entire coastline from the carolinas through new england should pay close attention because that is the area of potential impact as we get into late friday through early monday. martha: what about the speed of this storm? you know, obviously it's over those warm waters in the bahamas, it's expected to hang in that area over the next 24 hours and then sort of take off towards the east coast, right? >> that's correct. almost always, storms moving northward as they get farther north start being influenced by the westerlies, the ones that bring your regular day in, day out weather systems. it tends to move them faster, faster wind current, and that's what we're anticipating as an acceleration, but not really much better early saturday. it's still going to be moving at a fairly slow, 10-15 miles per hour until then. martha: looks like irene is

going to be with us through the weekend. bill read, thank you very much, from the national hurricane weather center. good to have you with us today, we're going to be watching this folks and letting you know where it's headed. a huge cone of uncertainty as you heard maria molin and bill read talk about. log on to foxnews.com and get the latest object the weather -- on the weather link, you can track the storm and see where it's headed and we'll be covering that on the air as well. gregg: new developments in the battle for libya. we're getting reports that rebel leaders will soon meet with united nations representatives to talk about the future of libya. also, just crossing, a report that libyan rebels are offering a reward for qaddafi, dead or alive. k.t. mcfarland, fox news security analyst, joins us on the set. good to see you. so qaddafi's compound falls, he responds by saying i'm winning! no wonder they call him daffy qaddafi. where is he, we wonder. >> we don't know. here's a bunch of things you

need to keep in mind. nobody knows how this is going to turn out. qaddafi may be gone but nobody knows what happens next. where are the rebels, when they take charge, are they going to go for rit ribution or take over? where are they, killed, fighting, you don't know, and the third is the weapons of mass destruction, how are we going to make sure we have our hands on those so they don't get into the hands of the bad guys. gregg: we have recognized, as well as the interim countries, the head of the council is a my mustafa abdel galil but he was until february a loyal qaddafi minister. can we trust this guy? >> again, this brings up the point of who are the rebels. we know there are al-qaeda elements in some of them, we also know they are some of the former qaddafi -- this is including galili can we trust them, only time will tell. gregg ig -- gregg: what about the weapons of mass destruction? reportedly the pentagon is

trying to keep track of the sites, via satellite, maybe people on the ground, but they've got about 10 tons of mustard gas and some 20,000 shoulder-fired missiles? >> this is the critical part from our perspective, where is this stuff, how do we get our hands on it, how do we make sure it doesn't get into the hand of either any kind of qaddafi guerilla insurgent movement or into the international black market. we've got to assume there are british and french pressure spaces -- special operations forces, probably the cia on the ground, that's probably why you've had such success in the last ten days with the rebel forces. gregg: it's worrisome that the journ rists -- journalists appear to be trapped in the hotel, contained by holdouts, qaddafi loyalists. is it possible that qaddafi might be trying to use them as pawns, or dare i say hostages? >> absolutely. you know, qaddafi is playing for his life. he knows that the minute he's captured he goes to the international criminal courts, he'll be tried, convicted and executed.

there's an end game for him. he doesn't retire on the rivera. he's going to use anything he can to continue to survive. his plan, he doesn't necessarily win, but he only wins if he survives and waits out naso. >> megrahi, the mastermind of the lockerbie bombing, he snookered great britain, he was let go, he's in libya. do we need to get our hands on him and put him behind bars? >> i would find that guy if for no other reason than to finally put an end to that tragedy and get him and put him where he belongs, in jail, and he can die in jail. gregg: k.t. mcfarland, fox news national security analyst, thanks. >> thank you. martha: let's take a moment and look at the markets on wall street this morning. they are a mixed bag, down about 45 points right now, a decent durable goods report influencing the market this morning but it's kind of bouncing around after the dow surged 322 points on tuesday, apparently the earthquake was a pretty good thing for the market. we're going to keep a close

eye on the action on wall street. we'll tell you what's going on there. gregg gregg a very popular sports coach diagnosed with an early onset of of dementia. by all accounts she's led an active and healthy lifestyle and she says she will not give up without a tpaoeufplt our doctor here with what lies ahead. martha: plus a new update on the state of our economy from the congressional budget office, as the white house rules out a plan to save $10 billion. is that going to make business owners feel better about regulation? we're going to talk about that when we come back.

gregg: well, a very close call for nancy reagan at an event at the reagan library, the 90 world former first heard suddenly lost her balance. well, thankfully, florida senator marco rubio was there and others helped save

her from what could have been a very nasty fall, rubio, which was invited to speak at the reagan library later, commented on the buzz he may be a front candidate for a v.p. slot in 2012. >> it's flattering. it is. but you know, they said it about other people before, they'll say it about other people in the future. i'm here because mrs. raysan invited me after the election. it was a tremendous honor. gregg: in a couple of minutes we're going to talk about senator rubio and other gopers who may be attacked to shake up the gop martha: top republican leaders are slamming the plan by the obama administration to cut spending. you'd think they would be happy with that -- about that, right? the white house is on move to trim regulations they claim is going to save $10 billion over the next five years. critics say it's just a drop in the bucket. let's talk about this, doug holtz-eaken joins me, director of the budget

office who crunches these numbers, knows how these things are done, eric bolling of fox news show "the five", gentlemen, good to have you here. as soon as i heard this announcement was going to be made, i thought this is all that business owners talk about across this country, that regulations are too great and they're hampering their ability to start new business, so this should be good news that they're trying to trim the regulations and making it easier for businesses to function in this country. doug, you've had a chance to look over these changes, what do you think? >> this is initial talk versus the numbers. they're talking about a great relief in the regulatory burden, $10 billion. the fact is, there's a new epa rule that's going to impose the cost by, all itself, $10 billion, so it sounds like a big number, but in 2011, so far, the administration has proposed $67 billion in new regulatory costs. this is look like -- like looking at an economy treading water and say we'll take that pebble, here's a

pwould every. it's not -- a boulder. it's not going to work. martha: according to research publish in the "washington post", since the start of the add he -- of the year the administration has proposed 43 regulations at a cost of $65 billion to job creators. so it's a puzzle, eric. is it trimming just to say you've trimmed something or is it meaningful to jobs? >> it's almost insulting to businesses, honestly. that's $10 billion over five years, meanwhile, there are new -- the epa alone, just regulations -- dust regulation, water regulations, the height of a fence when you're raising cattle regulations, how much runoff of water can you emit when you grow a tomato, the regulations are destroying american businesses, and farming, from farming to manufacturing, and then we know about the epa regulations an emissions. that's going to destroy some of the trucking industry. the regulation is burdensome, but for them to come and say we're going to save $2 billion take a victory lap over that,

that's insulting. martha: it's $10 billion over five years. the quote that i just read was from senator john barrasso who wrote an op-ed in the washington times, he's been out in the forefront trying to get a handle on these regulations. doug, you claim it's just lip service, you know, look, $10 billion is not a drop in the bucket, it's a lot of money, but it sounds like what you're saying is there's so much onerous regulation being implemented outside of that $10 billion, it's just making that a wash. it's worse than a wash. they have proposed far more than $10 billion in new costs this year alone, there's an enormous amount of new regulation under the health care reform, under the e p-fpt a reform -- under the financial reform, the epa continues to regulate and the fact is the proposals are not in place. the only thing they've put in place is one rule about hazardous milk spills that cuts our regulatory cost by $140 million, that's the only fact on the ground in this debate and that's not enough to turn the course of

the economy. martha: i guess when you get right down to it, it's a philosophical difference, this administration believes you have to clamp down on companies so they don't do anything bad to the environment or to people. that's a firmly held belief. i think it's safe to say that. they think that's the government's role. but i guess the question arises, eric bolling, when you hear over and over from the companies across the country that this is what is keeping them from hiring people, at what point does the administration say you know what, we may have to compromise some of what we think is so important in order to actually juice the engines of this economy. >> they need to do that now. it's like regulation is going wild out of the epa and some of the other agencies. they absolutely have to walk down some of this. the greenhouse gases that epa is now looking at, the five dangerous gases they're looking at, the carbon -- you know, trying to plan some more regulation on businesses as a way to subvert the congress who already failed the cap and trade bill, it usurps

congress in yet another way. i'm telling you, they need to walk this back or we're never going to see under 8 percent unemployment in this country. martha: we need to find out. a member of the president's -- they talked about salmon, he said that was ridiculous and upsetting, he put it in the state of the union. we're going to find out about that, three different agency that is regulate salmon. we'll find out about that. doug, eric, good to see you guys as always. catch the five every week day, fox news, 5:00 p.m. eastern, eric bolling is one of the coanchors of that show. gregg: a good one. a massive explosion forcing thousands of people from their homes. we're live on the scene.

martha: all right, we just want to show you what's going on right now.

that is a live news conference with governor pur due of north carolina and she's just giving people practical advice and it really allows this story to hit home in terms of what these people need to think about. they're gathering insurance documents, going online to find out exactly what kit, what things they need to have as they prepare for hurricane irene as it heads towards north carolina right now. so we're going to keep monitoring governor pur due's statements. she clear very is imploring people in north carolina to take this very seriously, to get their precipitations in hand and -- prescriptions in han and get ready for what may come in the next 24-48 hours. in a little while we'll check in with john roberts at atlantis beach in north carolina, get an update on the preparations ongoing there. gregg: in the meantime, martha, more than 10,000 people evacuated north of sacramento, california, residents of about 4800 homes in lincoln told to get out. firefighters, battling a

fire engulfing a rail car filled with liquid propane, reporter alisa harrington with ktxl in sacramento is live at the scene. how dangerous is this situation? >> reporter: well, they did evacuate more than 10,000 people within a 1 mile raidous, that propane tanker is still burning and firefighters say at this point the best thing they can let it do is burn out. that tanker has been burning more than 18 hours now. it is filled with 29,000 gallons of propane and is sitting right next to other tankers holding about half a million gallons of propane, so a very dangerous situation. firefighters have four fixed hoses soaking the tanker to cool it down. that's their plan of action at this point. they say they cannot directly shoot water at the flames because that could create a gas cloud that then could ignite into a fire ball and level part of this town. now, like i said, more than 10,000 residents have been evacuated, many of them, spent the night sleeping in their cars and others stayed

at one of three evacuation centers that red cross helped the city set up. now, this is also affecting traffic. part of highway 65, which runs through town, is shut down, and also, kids in town were supposed to have their first day of school today but the district has closed all schools until it is safe. gregg: alisa harrington, thank you very much, north of sacramento. we'll check back in with you. martha: former florida governor jeb bush with a warning for gop contenders in the 2012 race. what jeb bush has to say about attacks on president obama. that's coming up. gregg: yet another attack on the tea party from a democratic lawmaker. we're going to tell you what happened this time around.

martha: let's get started with a "fox news alert," because irene is now gaining strength over the warm waters of the caribbean. it is now a category-3 hurricane, 115 miles per hour.

it is crawling north, slowly going over the warm waters of that area as it heads towards the bahamas. and that is where it is right now and that is how we start this brand new hour of "america's newsroom." good morning, everybody i'm martha maccallum. gregg: i'm gregg jarrett in for bill hemmer. evacuations already well underway along the outer ban of north carolina. but the whole east coast could be in the crosshairs this weekend. martha: that's right. right now irene is on track to graze florida, on friday. north carolina, by saturday. and, she could plow through the northeast, by sunday. >> this is a big storm even if we don't get a direct hit the tropical storm force winds will be on us an extended period of time and i expect we'll have infrastructure damage and considerable power outages and expect the worst. it could happen. martha: you have to expect the worst because it can happen and you just never know how this thing and where it will hit and what the damage will be. john roberts is live from at atlantic canada beach, north

carolina. where people there are starting to prepare. good morning, john. >> reporter: good morning, to you, martha. this is the shot where you say, the correspondent is standing there and the weather is beautiful, where the heck is the hurricane? it is 900 miles away and is coming this direction and people are getting concerned about that. mayor trace cooper will be meeting later on this afternoon with his emergency management people and they'll look at the latest tracks from the national hurricane center and the latest models which show it heading a little more east than the national hurricane center track and they'll make a determination whether or not to order mandatory evacuations for visitors and voluntary evacuations for permanent residents here and they expect those evacuations would probably begin sometime on thursday. now, about 40 miles to the east of us, on ocracoke island, they have begun the evacuations and they began at 5:00 this morning, because ocracoke, people know if they visited, the only way on and off the island is by ferry and going from the cedar point side, our side, a two-and-a-half hour trip and if you go from the hatteras side, it is 40 minutes

and there are hundreds of people on the island and they wanted to be sure they have plenty of time to get them off and we talked to vacationer, people here from maryland and they think they have to cut the vacation short and are disappointed about that. a woman from michigan i spoke to, drove 16 hours to get here, just got here yesterday and wanted to be sure he could dip her toes in the ocean before she might have to turn around and go back and we haven't seen boarding-up of homes yet. some of them off my left shoulder, already have their shutters rolled down, probably because they are unoccupied. it is a quiet week, school goes back in north carolina tomorrow. but we expect if the order goes out in the next 24 hours, we'll see a lot of activity as people board up their homes, and people protect their properties and, in anticipation that the storm will come here, because even if it hits 40 miles to the east the hurricane winds extend out far enough we'll get them, martha. martha: and, as you say, john you get the beautiful blue skies right before these things barrel in and once they enter the sky over that area, it is going to

be very visible and clear to everybody on the grounds, there, john, thank you very much. we'll check in with you throughout the day. we appreciate it. john roberts in atlantic beach, north carolina. if irene slams into that area, how will it stack up against the state's most destructive storm, hurricane floyd? and that roared onto shore in september of 1999. claiming 52 lives and causing $5.5 billion in damage. the storm destroyed 7,000 homes and damaged 56,000 other homes and 17,000 needed to be abandoned, they were way too destroyed to be fix and saturating rains from tropical storm dennis, ten days earlier, caused mass flooding, 4.2 million acres were under water. a horrific span of time for the folks in north carolina, one of the most beautiful parts of the coastline. gregg: we wish them well "fox news alert," hectic scenes on the streets of libya,

celebrations, gunfire and fighting between rebels and qaddafi loyalists. listen to the report from steve harrigan in tripoli. >> reporter: the scene here, some of the weapons look like they are out of mad max. you have cut-downs and pickup trucks and sometimes enormous homemade weapons on the back and they raced here in a hurry, this is an army that made a lot of mistakes, often overrun its goals and had to retreat but they are here now and the sense is at least among them they are here to stay. there are dangerous areas, especially around the hotel, and there, government fighters are entrenched and there are cities under qaddafi control, still. gregg: the u.s. and its nato allies keeping very close tabs on the situation. jennifer griffin is live at the pentagon now, and, jennifer, what is the latest intelligence on where muammar qaddafi might be? >> reporter: well, u.s. officials say that they have no evidence that qaddafi has left the capital tripoli, they are still working under the assumption that he is there. it is interesting to point out,

that a benghazi business man has offered a $1.3 million reward now if any of qaddafi's loyalists turn him over to them and the transitional national council is offering an amnesty to any of the qaddafi fighters if they put down their weapons or turn in qaddafi and they are saying any crimes they've committed would be forgotten. late last night, qaddafi made what is purported to be his voice appeared on the radio. and he urged people to start fighting, and it was an interesting statement. he said, all libyans must be present in tripoli, young men, tribal men and women must sweep through tripoli, and comb it for traitors. and, he then, the libyan leader said, i have been out in tripoli, and i did not feel tripoli was in any danger. those were supposedly the last words from muammar qaddafi on state run radio last night. gregg: it's not in any danger, why does he need folks to come

in and defend his position? what is the next step for the opposition? and what is our government doing to help? >> reporter: well, the next step is taking place right now, in qatar. qatar has been the middle eastern, arab country that has been most supportive of the rebel opposition and they are hosting a conference with the united states, european allies, and others, who are part of the contact group to basically raise funds for the transitional national council and the tnc would like $2.5 billion and are meeting today in qatar with u.s. representatives and others to try and get money flowing. gregg: jennifer griffin, live at the pentagon, jennifer, thanks very much. martha: have you seen this, senator marco rubio literally caught nancy reagan as she was starting to fall as they were walking down the middle aisle at an event at the reagan library last night. watch this.

martha: she'ses okay, we are happy to report. she is 90 years old and is incredible and is dressed up and looks wonderful and is ready for this evening and, wanted very much to invite marco rubio to speak at this and he came to her rescue and, all of the events of that evening, and primarily the speech, caused a lot of republicans to wonder why he's not running for office in 2012. the florida senator says blaming president obama is not the answer, in his opinion, to the g.o.p.'s problems. here's some of what he said: >> i know that it is popular in my party to blame the president. the current president but the truth is the only thing the president has done is accelerate policies that were already in place and were doomed to fail. all he is doing through his policies is making the day of reckoning, come faster. but it was coming, nonetheless. martha: a piece of what he had to say, dana perino, former white house press secretary under president george w. bush

and, also a fox news contributor. and a cohost of "the five." at 5:00 p.m., good to see you as always. it feels like every time marco rubio opens his mouth at one of these things, it gets people talk and he's so great on his feet, why isn't he running and they talk about the vp slot. >> he is not overexposed and he doesn't seek the limelight every time when he decides he'll say something, he says it in a good, solid speech, he gave one a month ago, his maiden speech, in late june or early july, on the senate floor, the first one he has done and he's not on cable news, every, single night. getting an invitation from former first lady nancy reagan to give a speech at the reagan library is a big deal. one of the things he said, though, was, about timing. and, he has incredible timing, right, catching nancy reagan, being in the right place at the right time, and to run for florida senate at the time but, i think he believes that the timing is not right for him to

run for president in 2012. martha: he has not shot down the notion of vice president. when it has been presented to him. i want to talk about that. but let's play a piece of this, and he's around and is out there, you don't see him much but let's look at the piece: >> it is easy for us, who are born here, like me and so many of you, to take for granted how special and unique this place is. but when you come from somewhere else, when what you always knew and loved you lost, you don't have that luxury. my grandfather didn't know america was exceptional because he read about it in a book. he knew about it because he lived it and saw it with his eyes. >> i'm not usually impressed any more, you know, i had -- over 8 years i got to know a lot of amazing people and our government and our military and overseas. and, in may, i had a chance to sit down with senator rubio and i walked out of there and

thought, okay. i think he could be a future president. i don't think 12 is the right time, his story about how he got to america and loves america is compelling and, it gives you goosebumps when you listen it to there but you listen to the full story, his grandfather had polio and learned to read, he read to all the people in the hospital who couldn't leave and, living in cuba and escaping and coming to america and i think he has a bright future with the republican party and i hope more people listen to him. martha: send me your tweets. and i'd love to know positive and negative what you think and we accelerated the process, especially, once, americans witnessed the election of barack obama and said, maybe you don't have to be in the senate that long to take the job. you know, maybe you don't have to be on -- and everything it feels is accelerated now and think of marco rubio for a second in that regard an jeb bush was on with neil cavuto, hitting a similar tone to what marco rubio said in the first

sound bite, basically saying, you know, g.o.p. needs to be cautious about the way that the president is being hammered. i think what jeb bush said, basically was, you know, if you get a cold in the morning it's not the president's fault and do you think they are hitting on something that is important for g.o.p. candidates. >> and i have been saying that a little bit on the side and getting criticism for it but i believe you cannot run against nothing. you cannot run just against blame, you have to be for something, and americans want to know, okay, yeah, we don't like president obama's policies but what would you do? how would you be any different? marco rubio's pointed was some of the problems we are facing were not built up in the last 8 years or the last two years. they have built up over decades and our day of reckoning is coming sooner because of current policies that are in place, and if we are going to have h-e-double hockey sticks to pay... martha: he acknowledged and said it would be unusual to have

three bush presidents and that would be an unprecedented thing for one family in the u.s. and he said i'm not ashamed at all, he loves his brother and says, that all the time and of course his father. do you ever see him running? >> i do. i know that his dad and his brother both want him to run and each of those bush presidents and the possible future president, brings a unique aspect to the tablt. but what they have in common is a quiet dignity and love for america that makes me still support them every day when i wake up. martha: two people we are talking about who are not in the 12 race, and that begs the question about the folks who are in and why people do keep looking at other people who they like, who are out there and we have a long way to go in this process, dana, thanks for weighing in with your background on that, this morning. always good to see you. all right, gregg? gregg: one of the candidates who is in the race, set to take on president obama on jobs. mitt romney taking his argument

to the american people. >> why hasn't he come out with it already? if it is a continuation of the past we know it will fail. he spent his life in politics and i spent my life as a business person and i know what it takes to get jobs again in this country. gregg: we'll look at what his plan might be and his timing of this. another democrat going after the tea party. the lawmaker who called them "the real enemy." and you might be the best driver in the world, but, there is nothing you can do to avoid this: let me tell you about a very important phone call i made.

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♪ take on me... ♪ ....take on me ♪ take me on... anncr: there's an easier way to save. get online. go to geico.com get a quote. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. gregg: a leading candidate for the republican presidential nomination set to maybe up stage the leader of the free world from the campaign trail. mitt romney says he has a comprehensive plan to create jobs and put america's economy back on track. and, he is going to unveil his

blueprint on september 6th, right before president obama pulls the curtain off of his recovery ideas. byron york is the chief political correspondent for the washington examiner, also a fox news contributor. he joins us live, byron, good to see you. if i had to make a guess, just judging by what mitt romney said on the campaign trail, he'll say we have to lower the tax burden for businesses and top earners, in order to create jobs, if he does that, doesn't he open himself up to the charge that, you know, he's the bff of the rich? >> well, he'll get that charge anyway. you played a clip before the break of mitt romney's interview on monday with neil cavuto here on fox. and, even though he is not revealing details of his plan, listening to the interview i think you'll hear what is the plan, he was asked about warren buffett and he said we have to have capital free to be invested. we need to have people with capital invest their money to create jobs, and i would look

for a capital gains tax cut and asked about his, quote, corporations are people, too, he said these corporations, they need to have their money to create new jobs and i would say look for a corporate tax cut proposal and he also talked about people taking money overseas to invest, need to bring it home and i would look for something, some sort of a break on repatriated profits and i think it is all there in what he said. gregg: juxtapose the president's major speech on job creation, what we know about it so far is he wants investment, which is a code word for more spending, stimulus-2, if you will. is the president going to be in a very difficult position to ask to increase spending when he's just agreed with congress to cut spending? >> absolutely. and, the fact that he is dealing with a republican majority congress. so, the president, he may talk big but he's going to have to have smaller goals to get 'em through congress and what mitt romney is trying to do is set up a one-to-one face-off with the

president and he is going to a high unemployment state, nevada where he is popular and i think unemployment is 12.9% in nevada and 14% in las vegas and the whole point is to set himself up in contrast and opposition to the president and not to rick perry or michelle bachmann but mitt romney versus barack obama. gregg: and another part reportedly of the president's jobs creation plan is to extend the payroll tax cut as well as unemployment benefits. those, however, byron, as you know, are benefits that go to workers, not to employers. so, two-part question. a, how does that create jobs, and, b, is it kind of difficult for romney to oppose those things. >> the argument is it puts more money in people's pockets and they buy more stuff and it creates more jobs and mitt romney was asked specifically about that on monday and he didn't oppose it. extending it. the issue is going to be, will it be extended past the year and mitt romney did not oppose it and i think it will be difficult

for pups who are out on the campaign trail saying, we have to cut taxes, i think it will be difficult for them to say, well, this tax cut we don't like. gregg: you know, the president and the white house claim that passing the new free trade agreement will create roughly 70,000 jobs, and, the president ripped into congress for not passing it. then, suddenly, we learned, well, they haven't passed it because they never got it from the president. it has been sitting on his desk, collecting dust two-and-a-half years. is that a problem for the president? >> of course it is a problem, an easy way for republicans to criticize him and, has the added advantage of being true, as they say. so, you will hear a lot about that from republicans. gregg: well, don't let truth get in the way of a good story. byron york, good to see you as always, thanks. >> thank you. martha: we want to bring you a little bit of information that crossed the wires a while ago. the russian spaceship that was headed to the international space station to bring supplies did not reach orbit. we don't know if that means it

simply headed back, but, you know, the point of this and the question is, now that the shuttle program is not going on anymore, which was supplying the international space station, will the russians be able to successfully supply that space station and keep it going? it raises at least a question on this mission, that maybe one was looking at and certainly the folks at nasa are paying attention to, as well. and we'll get you more information on that, and bring it to you as soon as we get it. and, in the meantime, the economy taking its toll on president obama's approval ratings. that is no surprise. given the numbers we have seen, we'll talk about these numbers, and doug schoen will join me moments from now and we'll ask him what he thinks it really means. gregg: would-be thieves trying to make their get away and finding themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. how a good samaritan saved the day. >> who do you think you are running out of walmart with a shopping cart of stuff you didn't pay for. >> if you had a chance to do it again, would you do it. >> yes. you only get certain moments in life, things like this will

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gregg: a terrifying head-on collision caught on police dashcam, in south oklahoma city. one moment you see a white pickup truck. in front of the deputy's cruiser and next it swerves out of the way and an suv slams directly into the deputy's car. wow. amazingly, nobody seriously injured including the deputy's police dog and the suv driver was busted, suspected of driving under the influence. martha: we're getting very close to the tenth anniversary date. and, after nearly a decade since the 9/11 attacks the new freedom

tower is rising, and the museum and memorial are getting set to open. but there are still serious questions about the state of ground zero, just weeks before america marks ten years, since the september 11th terror attacks, laura ingle is live in lower manhattan. what can you tell us? what is happening now with all of this? >> reporter: hi, martha. well it is a big day down here for members of the media. we'll be getting a progress report from both the developer and the architect, and, in just about 40 minutes, a progress report on the memorial and the museum as we inch closer to the september 11th date. we're also going to be allowed to take our cameras up to a higher level, we're going to get a bird's eye view and i want to give you a live look of the construction site now, as you see all the action going on behind us. and our cameraman is going to pan around for us and we're going to get the bird's eye view of the ongoing world trade center reconstruction, which will give us an updated look at all the buildings going up, including one world trade that you see there now, the lead

building on the site. as you have been seeing, on our rise of freedom series on the fox report, this has been a tremendous project with a lot of progress, a $700 million project which evolves every day, and as of now, one world trade center is up 80 flowers and tower two up to street level and the reflective pool which sits in the footprint of the twin towers are complete, up and running and we'll get a chance to see those, today, when we get our tour. martha? martha: you know, we are hearing so many things about what the memorial is going to be like, what the experience of visiting ground zero will be like. what are you learning about what people can expect on their first visit there, laura? >> reporter: right. well the memorial will be opening on september 11th, only for family members of the victims. the next day, september 12th is when visitors will be able to get in there and take a look but this is still very much a

construction zone. we have been down here filming and we can show you some of the work that has been going on and the memorial opens to the public and visitors will have to navigate around the fences and the construction work. tickets are free to get in, but we have to tell you, you have to reserve on-line, at 911memorial onning ing oning o ing oning nd you will see, many things. martha: we'll have a lot of coverage in the coming weeks of the tenth anniversary, laura ingle, thanks. gregg: we have to batten down the hatches, you know, and, folks along the east coast are bracing for a bout with mother nature and we'll talk to a fema administrator, on what is being done to prepare. martha: and, she says the tea party is the real enemy. another member of the

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with our $1 million service guarantee. that's right. a $1 million service guarantee. don't wait until you become the next victim. call now to try lifelock risk free for 2 full months. that's right, 60 days risk free. use promo code: norisk. if you're not completely satisfied, notify lifelock and you won't pay a cent. order now and also get this document shredder to keep your personal documents out of the wrong hands. a $29 value, free! get the protection you need right now. call or go to lifelock.com to try lifelock risk free for a full 60 days. use promo code: norisk. plus get this document shredder, free! but only if you act right now. call now! lifelock service guarantee cannot be offered to residents of new york. martha: well, we are in the midst of preparing for a major hurricane, up and down the east coast over the next several days, irene is now upgraded to a category three

storm as it churns over the warm carribean waters, moving about 9 miles per hour at this moment. it has sustained winds of 115 miles an hour, that's what knocked it up to a category three storm, so you've got evacuations underway along the outer banks of north carolina, that is the best guess at this point as to where it might hit in the u.s., administrator for the federal emergency management agency is with us, with a very busy day. thank you for making time for us, we appreciate it, good morning. >> good morning. martha: talk to me about the preparation and what kind of communications going on with the different cities and towns along the coast who might need to make sure they get people out. >> you know, we've been tracking irene, it had already impacted the virgin islands and puerto rico, but from there's all the way up to the east coast we've been talking to state partners as they talk to local governments and as the track continues to show more the carolinas, mid atlantic and

maybe the northeast may be under the gun for this storm, it's really talking preparations but also moving our teams and supplies as we follow this track of the storm in case she does make a landfall. martha: we think of the worst case scenario of katrina and in that case, the speed of the hurricane had slowed considerably, it had already crossed across florida when it came in, so often it's the second sort of area that these things hit after they've died down a lot that can prove to have the most horrific effects. you know, so how do you stay on top of that as it moves through in the next few days? >> again, we are planning for impact from the carolinas all the way up through the coast. again, this is based upon us working with the states and local governments and prepositioning and getting things ready. as you point out, this is going to be a big storm. just because it hitsan area -- one area doesn't mean it's not going to cause damage further up the coast. so again we're having to work closely with state partners but also with the public, and this is the key

part, is the public needs to be prepared, pay attention to the storm, but know what to do, particularly if evacuation orders may be required in addition to what you see in the outer banks, and people need to heed those evacuation orders when given and not wait for an updated forecast or hope things get better. we need -- they need to evacuate, go somewhere safe and hope the storm misses them. martha: yes. the governor of north carolina was talking about that, prepare for the worst and pray for the best and that's a good combination. what about people sort of getting the notion that oh, if it goes to a two or one, it's not something we really need to worry about. is there too much focus perhaps on the speed and the number that's associated abouto with these hurricanes? >> yes, and i think, too, the other thing is, people tend to look at that center and go that's where the hurricane is at and forget, this is a big storm, it even -- and even tropical force winds over a large area, we've seen this in the northeast before with noreasters and tropical systems, they can knock

power out over large areas and with all the rain we've had in recent weeks, ground-saturated trees can be blown down. so don't focus on the center of the circulation, and again, that's why local officials and local weather service offices are going to have the best information about what to do. but you still got time. you haven't gotten ready, go tory.gov, go to m.fema.gov on your phone, get those tips and be ready. -- fema.gov. thank you, we're going to be watching this here on fox news, giving people all the information we can, hoping people heed those warnings. gregg: fiery comments from members of the congressional black caucus, directed at the tea party. the latest coming from florida democrat fredrico wilson during a town hall meeting on jobs. take a listen: >> [inaudible] there is no

compromiseing, they have one goal in mind, that is to make president obama is one-term president. gregg: let's bring in our panel, alan coomes, host of the alan coomes radio ho, and it's not just representative wilson, but the tea party can go straight to hell said maxine waters, vice president biden apparently referred to them as terrorists. >> that's not true. gregg: -- well, they said he did. let me get to my question. reverend jesse jackson said they should be called the fort sumptner tea party. look, for the most part these are people who are concerned sit cents, alan, they care deeply about our government and think it's gotten too big, too intrusive.

engaging in these slurs, might it backfire? >> i think most in the tea party are exactly what you said but there's too large a portion of them who maybe don't think that way. john lewis was spat upon and call the n word, doug lambord referred to obama as a tar baby, you've had the tea party.org had a sign with the n word on it. i would not use that language myself, pardon me, but i can understand why members of the congressional black caucus would feel that way given the number of high profile both congresspeople and tea party members who have made racially continuing dollars comments. gregg: mary katharine, john mccain used a phrase describing the tea party, a group of hobbitts, he referred to them if i recall correctly. aren't republicans also guilty of political slander what it comes to the tea party? >> well, i love this, because the democrats are supposed to be the rhetoric police, i believe alan you've been part of them. >> yes, i am a people police. >> saying that everyone should tone this down but as

soon as they want to crank it up on the tea party, it's a-okay and fair game. the only way that you have to say that biden did not say terrorist, even though they had several sources confirming it is because he denied it or the white house denied it, which is a little fuzzy. >> calling me a liar, okay. >> all of these racism charges, all this stuff, this is just normal people, out calling, holding the government to account, and the fact is that if these people on the left, if they knew people were getting involved, the left want as many as involved as possible but the fact is when they're conservative minorities, women, we don't want you guys involved. that's what's going on there. gregg: i want the record to reflect you're the one that used the r word so i'm going to run with it in my next question to alan. you look at people saying this, representative wilson, maxine waters, reverend jesse jackson equating them with slavery, guy needness -- goodness, isn't there a racial tone that really isn't deserved? >> i don't believe -- based on the comments i quoted a few moments ago, you've got

a bunch of high profile tea party leaders and congresspeople who have made racially continuing dollars comments and it's a shame, and i don't condone it on either side, however, i understand where someone like jesse jackson or maxine waters or frederica wilson might be coming from given untoward statements representing the tea party and congresspeople identifying with the tea party. one other thing, michele bachmann, the other part of what was said by fledericka wilson, saying they want to get obama out of office and michele bachmann's big headline was one-term president. >> that's fine. that's what parties want. they're allowed to want that. gregg: there's been name calling on both sides, including most recently governor rick perry referring to ben bernanke as being treasonous, aren't he's invectives and epithets make people small and doesn't it demean the political process? >> yeah, i wish that maybe tea party acti -- activists

would hold a rally and the press wouldn't find a misspelled a sign and one with a hitler mustache and they would decide that it discredits the entire movement. i've been to lefty protests and you see the disgusting antiamerican rhetoric. do i think that characterizes the entire movement? and what maxine waters and these folks talking about, when they want to distract from the fact that the maxine waters tape got out last week, the black community is actually frustrated with what the obama administration has been able to do for them and they're sort of redirecting the anger at the tea party. there is this -- not that they're not going to vote for him, but there is frustration with the fact that unemployment is so high. gregg: my frustration is i wish i wad more time to talk to you guys, mary katharine hamm, alan coomes, thank you. martha: sometimes times are so busy you might need a vacation from the vacation.

president obama has dealt with a hurricane, a revolution in libya, an earthquake, not to mention the political crisis that seems to go on and on, all of that from martha vineyard, a pretty nice place to be while on vacation. so what do it -- what does it do to the poll numbers? doug schoen on that. gregg: and how to wreck your ride and save the day in one fell swoop. >> i saw her rapidly trying to throw stuff into her car and get out of this. >> i got in my van real fast and drove over there.

martha: this can't make folks in the white house too happy but when you look at president obama's approval rateing it has sunk to a new low this morning and there is the number, according to gallup's daily tracking poll, they talk to about 1500 people a day, they've got his approval rating at 38 percent, 54 percent

disapprove of the job the president is doing. that's just one of the numbers we're going to look at in the mix here, doug schoen, former pollster to president bill clinton, also a fox news contributor, it is always good to see you, good morning. >> good morning. martha: we talked about the fact that, first of all, look at that number, how rough, how tough is that for him because he's got more than a year to go. >> it's tough because the trend is negative. he's come down from the high 40s, low 50s, down to 38 record low, a lot of intensity against the president, so this is a real crisis for him. martha: if he's sitting in the room and he looks at his advisers and says look, reagan was in this spot, clinton was in this spot, they both got reelected, why is it different for me. >> he's in a tougher position because bill khr-pbton had a better economy, ronald reagan had a booming economy. this economy isn't getting better any time soon and the thing is he has to make the issue of the republicans rather than his own failings. martha:march this is interestin, you and i were talking about it and gregg was talking

about it in the prior panel, a lot of anger, a lot of sort of slamming the tea party and you say the president, it appears, he has decided you make them look as out in right field as you possibly can, and perhaps folks will look at the president and say you know, he's the guy we know, we'll stick with him. >> exactly right. their argument is look, we put forward bipartisan plans that are reasonable, the republicans are being obstructionist and intrancy gent and you should stick with us because we're trying, we're reasonable. martha: you look at those pictures, and it's an extremely difficult, high pressure job, his family needs to get out of the white house and need to spend time together but you've got this really difficult week that's been happening, libya, the earthquake, and now this hurricane, irene, that's bearing down on the east coast. how bad are the optics of bike riding with your daughter and just sort of chitchatting, eating ice

cream at this hour? >> these are not good optics for the president. we told bill clinton in '95 and '96 to go to the midwest, to go to the rockies, not to go to the cape or to martha's vineyard. i would be back in washington if i were him, i wouldn't have gone to martha's vineyard in the miles an hour place. this is -- in the first place. this is a mistake. martha: what if he's already there? i'm curious, do you say, mr. president, you've got to drop everything and come back and what's he going to do about the hurricane from the white house, for example? >> the problem is there is no plan and no strategy, other than this big speech in september. so you raise a fair question, martha, but the image of a president who had one of the worst weeks of his presidency, eating ice cream and vacationing on martha's vineyard while the world is in chaos is not a good one. martha: do you think he doesn't care enough to change the plans? >> oh, i think he cares. i think he really doesn't have a clue what to do. i think he's exhausted. i think he feels he needs a break, which is fine. but i think ultimately the american people look at him, particularly the voters in

the middle, and say he doesn't have a plan to get us out of this mess. martha: doug, thank you. always good to see you. >> good to see you. gregg: let's take a check of what's happening in the newsroom, upcoming, "happening now", with jon scott. jon: gregg, good morning. where in the world is moammar qaddafi, that's the question we're asking now, rebels have called for his capture, dead or alive. lieutenant colonel al ver north is with us. more on that virginia earthquake, how likely is an aftershock, another quake on the east coast? >> and breaking news on hurricane irene, an update on where that category three storm is headed. we'll get a clearer picture. and the 100 most powerful women in the world, that list, just out in a couple of minutes. we will see you then. gregg, back to you. gregg: and you and i are apparently not going to make that list. a gender thing. discrimination! we'll see you then. troubling announcement from one of the most

successful college coaches of all time, tennessee williams basketball coach pat sumit saying she's been diagnosed with early onset of dementia at the age of 59. what can be done to help her and what signs should the rest of us be aware of? dr. manny, coming up.

martha: this is good news to report out of tripoli at this hour. we are just getting word that reporters, including our own producer, tadek, who's been on the phone with us throughout this entire situation in libya, have been released from that hotel, they've been allowed

to leave the hotel. apparently there's a convoy of journalists being led out of there. there were forces loyal to qaddafi in the area around the hotel and a lot of crossfire going on between the rebels and qaddafi's forces that had basically pinned them in that area, along with the fact that they are being told for their safety, they should stay put. a huge relief that they've now been allowed to leave that hotel. we're going to try to get tadek on the phone, we'll bring you that as soon as we get it. gregg: that is great news. martha: very good news. gregg: and now to some heartbreaking news, an announcement from the most successful women's basketball coach in history, pat summit, owner of eight national championship trophies, just 59 years old, announcing she is experiencing an early onset of dementia, the alzheimer's type. not sure how much longer she's going to be able to coach the university of tennessee lead vol tiers but saying she will not have her time there turned into a,

quote, pity party. dr. manny alvarez joins us, fox news medical a team, senior editor of fox news health.coal. she's a courageous woman. >> very courageous and i think it's an important thing what she did yesterday because she really told the world that she was suffering from this disease, and it's the kind -- it's kind of the right message. when you have alzheimer's, early onset alzheimer's at the age of 59, people don't realize that 5 percent of the 5 million people that we have with alzheimer's do get alzheimer's before the age of 65, as early as 20, and so the key is, you know, first saying that you have a problem, getting the right diagnosis, then hopefully getting into a treatment type of medication that's going to slow down the disease. gregg: memory loss, withdrawal, self-doubt, just some of the symptoms here. this thing cannot as yet be cured, right? but it can be managed? >> right, it can be managed, but i think that the cure is going to come very soon. if you look at some of the

work, like paul greenguard, in charge of the fisher foundation for alzheimer's research in new york, he wrote a paper in nature and he has identified the protein and some of the genetic cellular components that are responsible for the development of alzheimer's, so now that we know exactly what's happening in the cell, we are going to find a definite cure, a definitive cure for alzheimer's and you can read this in fox news health.com. gregg: thank you, dr. manny, our thoughts and prayers with ms. summit. a great person and great coach. martha: hurricane irene, it's a category three storm and this just crossed the wires moments ago, irene will hug the u.s. coast from late saturday and could be, quote, a big threat for new eng lan and long island on saturday. keeping an eye on this as it builds strength over the warm waters of the bahamas, we'll keep covering that for you and we'll be right back.