maybe 80 to 90 million people will find themselves without employer-sponsored health care. the other big part of this news is that there will be changes in what employees get, either reduction in benefits or increased copayments, increased premiums. and all of this i think is designed to do exactly what the bill planned to do, and that is to make private health insurance so expensive and so intolerable from employers and employees that people would go to the public option and go with the government plan. that was the plan all along, and i think that that plan is headed down the road of pushing more and more people towards it. martha: well, supporters of the plan say look at massachusetts, they say in massachusetts, more employers started to offer coverage under that statewide health insurance plan over time, they believe that it worked to their benefit because it was -- it became law, basically, that people had to be covered.

>> well, you know, the mandate there, you also have pretty high tax necessary massachusetts and we are dealing with an economy here that still has very low unemployment, 14 million people out of work, 20 million people out there looking for work or for a different kind of job. that's pretty frightening in an economy that seems to not be able to get off its back in this recession. what employers are going to be facing in the next couple of years are basically hundreds of billions of dollars in more taxes, people are going to see less in their paycheck as they're going to have other deductions taken out for disability insurance option, for other health care insurance as well, they'll see health care costs going up, along with energy costs going up, and this is part of the question i have that when the president says if people has ideas about regulations that should be changed to allow more peopleor t of it. martha: we talked about that here a bit yesterday in terms of the regulations changes that they're making. of course, none of those that they have suggested have anything to do with curbing om bear -- omabacare

which shouldn't come as a big surprise. one of the other elements to this i think is sort of the ripple effect, because the initial thing that made corporations start to offer health care to people was that somebody did it so once company a is offering you a health care plan, you're definitely going to be more likely to go there and work than you would for company b, so then everybody had to across the board offer health care insurance. the same could be true, once companies stop, other companies may say if he's not doing it, we don't have to offer it, either. >> it comes down to that point. that's a very good point. it comes down to the point that employers are going to be taxed if they do, taxed if they don't. all those things are going to be important. the point is this, the house has passed out of committee and chamber a number of bills to make changes in this to try and make it work, the senate has said no, the white house has been virtually silent on this. so the question is, is this any more a discussion of policy or politics? what will really lead to changes that will allow businesses and private companies to compete, to lower costs, to provide better quality health care,

and i think this is probably at this point a political solution. martha: tim murphy, thank you for being with us. >> good to be with you. gregg: warren buffet, the legendary head of berkshire hathaway will invest $5 billion in the struggling bank of america and the shares of b of a are spiking on that. of course, they've lost a lot of their value as they struggled for the acquisition of essentially a black hole, countrywide mortgage company. so we'll have more on that in a moment. in the meantime, the courts, about to rule on what could be the toughest immigration law in the united states. we'll have a fair and balanced debate straight ahead as we wait for a federal judge to decide its fate. martha: we've got a lot of breaking news that is brewing. some things that we're seeing crossing that we're working on that we want to bring to you when we can get those reports verified, but potential big news coming out of tripoli, so stay tuned for that. this is a look at the celebrations that have been there all across the week as the big question remains,

where is qaddafi. and we're going to have more to report, coming up right after this. >> the message expressed, guns, cars, anything at hand, it's clear, we've won the war. >> we've waited for this moment. we are free now!

gregg well, there are reports of new fighting in tripoli as nato forces help in the hunt for libya's fugitive dictator moammar qaddafi, rebels putting a $2 million bounty on qaddafi's head. steve harrigan is streaming live from tripoli. steve, any word on qaddafi? >> reporter: gregg, right now, unk*frpl dollars reports -- unconfirmed reports saying qaddafi and two of his sons are surrounded an an apartment building near tripoli near the colonel's compound.

fighting is going on there and keep in mind there's been a real credibility gap from both sides so this information is unconfirmed as of now. the hunt for qaddafi is intense, it is continuing, british officials have just said that nato assets are being used, intelligence gathering assets in hunt for qaddafi, but no confirmation that he is in fact surrounded at this point inside a group of apartments in tripoli. as that hunt goes on, the celebrations across the city of tripoli are continuing. >> they arrived in homemade vehicles, homemade weapons, the fire was in the air, rocket launchers, antiair craft guns. women, men and children enjoy the show, some cover their ears, but the message, expressed, guns, cars, anything at hand, it's clear, we've won the war. >> we've waited for this moment, we are free now. this dictator, we have finished all the dictator

now! this is the last dictator in the world. we are free! >> >> reporter: this new government is looking for cash, they're asking for $5 billion from donor nation, italy just announced they will be freezing -- unfreezing libyan assets, giving $500 million in immediate cash. we will keep you up to date with that hunt for colonel qaddafi, unconfirmed reports from rebels saying he and two sons are fighting it out inside an apartment complex, here in tripoli. back to you in new york. gregg: steve harrigan, we'll check back in with you. martha. martha: hurricane irene, let's get back to that for a moment, taking aim at the east coast of the united states, folks in north carolina, they are expecting to be the first that are hit in this country. there's a look at the path. we're live in kittyhawk, we'll see how the folks are faring there as they get ready for the storm. gregg: they rarely win an election but can a third party candidate make history in 2012? we'll tell you what the top pollsters say today. martha: in the meantime head

to tpo*blgs news -- foxnews.com/"america's newsroom". we have a poll question on there. weigh in. will a third party candidate make an impact on your vote in 2012? fascinating question right now. we'll be right back.

martha: let's get you back to our top story, which is of course this monster storm that is now on a collision course with the eastern part of the united states,

hurricane irene is building strength out over the bahamas right now, over those warm waters. take a look at these incredible pictures. that's a submarine as it goes down, this is part of the second fleet in norfolk, this is the largest naval force base in the world. and they are moving out about 64 ships right now in southeastern virginia, 27 ships moving out to sea, another 28 moved out to other places, along the peers there -- piers there. hurricane watches are in effect in coastal north carolina, evacuations are underway and it looks like it's going to slam into the eastern seaboard over the next couple of days. john roberts is in kittyhawk, north carolina where he's been watching the preparations for this. good morning, john. >> reporter: good morning, martha. what a shame that the evacuation order had to be put out for this morning because it's a picture perfect day in the outer banks of north carolina, but 150,000 to 175,000 people have had their vacations cut short, the order went out last night, 8:00 this

morning, people have to start hitting the road. that's the main causeway in kittyhawk between the outer banks and mainland, it's one of only two ways off the outer banks, other than a ferry, but they probably won't be running in the next day or so, and all of these people have been ordered off the island. this is the -- not the residence, but this is the sreuf -- residents but the visitors, they've been ordered off of okikoke island, they ordered an sraeubg kwrags for the 800 permanent residents there. the forecast track takes it right over where we are now and that has got town officials very worried. ray sturga is the mayor, ears what he told me. >> i'm anxious today. i'm optimistic in that i'm seeing that folks are following instructions and choosing to leave. our principal goal is not to lose a life. there's no reason anyone should lose their life as a result of this. we know it's coming, we're implementing safety measures but it creates a sense of

anxiety, because it's getting ready to turn your whole life upside down if you live out here. >> reporter: it is going to turn a lot of peoples' lives upside down. again, a mandatory evacuation for visitors in dare county, that includes kittyhawk, duck, nag also stead. we've not heard an evacuation for the corolla area. here's something -- eye ironic, today is the first day of school in this area and it's been canceled in -- canceled in dare, kuratuk and hyde county. martha: they get one more day to enjoy summer. phil kaoeting saw beautiful blue skies and now he's in the middle of it. we're watching the track as we watch you guys. thank you, john roberts. gregg: and it is the end of an era for apple, steve jobs stepping down as ceo of the company he cofounded, the visionary behind the ipod,

iphone, the ipad, not to mention the mac, releasing his resignation letter yesterday. let's quote from part of t. i've always said if there ever came a day when i could no longer meet my duties and expectations as apple's ceo, i would be the first to let you know. unfortunately, that day has come. claudia cowen is live right outside apple headquarters in cupertino, california and what's the mood there? >> reporter: well, the mood is one of sadness. you know, his resignation announced late yesterday may have come as a surprise to many, but for most of the people here at apple headquarters in cupertino, they knew this was going to be coming sooner or later given steve jobs' cron -- chronic health problems, he battled cancer, underwent a liver transplant, took a leave of absence for medical reasons and at his last public appearance he looked quite frail. that caused apple shares to drop on the spot and it's

down about 6 percent, as chairman of the board, jobs will continue to have influence on the company he helped found, but one industry analyst tells me that he believes steve jobs is likely fighting for his life, and apple fans are reflecting on his legacy. >> certainly sad news for him and his family, but i mean, this is an unbelievable organization, and it's a tribute to him and what he's created, but i don't think this is about one person. >> that's terrible. i mean, what are they going to do? i mean, he's pretty much the brainchild and heart of the whole operation. i just see it -- i don't see good things happening after that. >> reporter: well, most analysts, in fact, do see a bright future for apple, management here knows how steve jobs thinks, they know his vision, and gregg, they are planning for a seemless transition. gregg: he may have been the greatest business leader of all time. all right, thank you very much, claudia cowen in cupertino, california. let's take a quick look at the markets now. on the big board, investors

have been reacting in various ways to the new weekly jobless numbers, jobless claims are up, there's a big stake, warren buffet just took in b of a, $5 billion. his berkshire hathaway, buying up some of the nation's largest -- the largest bank's stock, and the dow closed up yesterday about 143 points, and it's up 58 today. so we're going to keep an eye on the markets throughout the program. martha: all right. and back to politics now. there's some really new interesting poll that is reveal that americans are not happy at all really with the way things are going in washington and that they could in a very real sense turn to a third party candidate once again in 2012. here's the latest analysis of the changing political landscape from doug schoen, written in the wall street journal, here's a quote from that, the united states is in the midst of what we would both call a prerevolutionary moment, there is widespread report

for fundamental change in the system, an increasing number of americans are now searching beyond the two parties for bold and effective leadership. all right, let's talk about this with christopher han, former aide to senator chuck schumer and democratic strategist and stephen hayes, senior writer at the weekly standard and forecasts news contributor. -- and fox news contributor. it's an interesting look at the scenario when we watch, stephen hayes, the gop contenders struggling for a frontrunner and the very real option that a new person could come on the scene or one could sprinter -- splinter off and run as a third party candidate. >> it is. i would say just to put this in its proper context, you have 58 percent of people saying in this current poll that they could see a need for a third party. back in the summer of 2007, gallup did a poll and also found 56 percent of people saying the same thing, and in 2003, you had a gallup poll that found that -- i think it was 53 or 52 percent saying there was a need for a third party. so america constantly flirts with the idea of a third

party presidential candidate. what i think makes this different, if you look at the gallup numbers in particular, is what -- where the ideological hunger for a third party candidate comes from. back in 2003 it was overwhelmingly from the left, a two -- 52 percent wanted an independent candidate and today it's even, you have 52 percent who want a independent constant date and 51 percent of conservatives. that's a pretty dramatic swing. martha: indeed it is. crist han, your -- chris han, your initial take. >> third parties are like jello, there'sal room for another candidate, but it rarely fulfills you. i think what we're going to see here is there probably will be a third party candidate coming from the right, based on some of the numbers i've seen both in what caddell's study showed and some other polls that have been out there. there is definitely angst

among republicans. we see this every couple of weeks, the frontrunner seems to change and every time there's a shiny new candidate the polls immediately jump to them. so what i am hearing and what i'm feeling out there is that you could see a serious republican third party candidate, perhaps a ron paul, if he does not get the traction in the primaries, he goes off and runs as a third party. listen, he has proven he is raise substantial funds from his network on the internet and he can make a very formidable candidate and that would almost assure president obama got reelected in 2012. martha: that is what is going to have conservatives concerned, stephen hayes, when they look at this situation, because they remember the ross perot election and the impact on republicans that time around. who do you think, steve hayes, the most likely candidates would be, donald trump is mentioned, sarah palin, there's been some consideration she might decide to do her own thing this time around as well. >> i think it would be unlikely that sarah palin would do it but i have to

say, if you look at the movie made about her career that debuted in iowa last month, that's the message from the movie is how she's been unafraid to take on the republican party establishment, in addition to democrats in her home state of alaska, so there was certainly that tone that came out of that message. i would be surprised if she actually did that. i mean, donald trump is a much more likely candidate. you know, often third party candidates are ego candidacies, donald trump would certainly fit that description. there's been talk of maybe jon huntsman, people are trying to figure out what he's doing. he went on the sunday shows this weekend and really went after republican candidates after having served in barack obama's administration, people wonder would jon huntsman be somebody who would do something like that, and there's always talk of mike bloomberg in new york city as a possible candidate. martha: it's interesting, when you look at history, a lot of independent candidates can get popular votes. they have a very tough time with electoral votes when it comes down to it. but it feels like a different moment in our

history and i think that's something that caddell and schoen are tipping into. >> they could tip states like pennsylvania which could be close next year, a third party candidate could tilt it right to the president and i think there's a lot of room for it. martha: we've got to leave it there. but a prerevolutionary moment according to doug schoen and pat caddell. good to see you both. gregg: that's what we've been asking our viewers, to take our newsroom poll. not scientific, but we'd like to hear from you. today we're asking would a third party candidate make an impact on your vote in 2012. so far, about 40 percent say yes and 60 percent say no, a third party candidate would not impact their vote. very interesting numbers. martha: they are interesting keep the votes coming in on that, send me a tweet, martha maccallum, on your thoughts about this third party candidate idea. coming up, we're going to have more on this story for you. take a look at this picture that broke my heart this morning when i saw it. he is one of the 22 navy

seals who died serving our country in afghanistan, and that dog, hawkeye, simply still will not leave his side. gregg: plus, a federal judge, hearing arguments over the toughest immigration law in the country. we're going to have a fair and balanced debate on alabama's battle, next.

gregg: a showdown is underway in alabama, a judge deciding whether to block the toughest law in the nation targeting immigration. policy director of the 21st century border initiative, bob dane is communications director for the federation for immigration reform, good to see you both. bob, i must say, the district judge seemed very skeptical about the enforcement provision of the law, saying, quote, there are a lot of problems with the statute. how in the world do you think police are going to make these determinations

without profiling? bob, not looking good for your side. >> what this bill probably will move forward, it should, and we'll see how the state is doing -- listen, the essence of this lawsuit, this is not about establishing the parameters of who is in charge of immigration enforcement. the political point is by the obama administration to make sure that nobody enforces the law. remember, last year, the department of justice went after arizona just like they're going after alabama and they said federal preemption, it's our job, not your job but what's happened over the last year? the obama administration has bypassed congress, they've systematically dismantled most interior enforce men and granted deferred action to millions of illegal aliens. gregg: right. >> so you have this reaction to the inaction of washington, and states like alabama are rising to the defense of their citizens. gregg: let me put a question to you. >> bob, i've got to cut you off. this law was drafted because

alabama is experiencing a lot of illegals flocking to the state, they're taking precious jobs away from illegal resident -- from legal residents. when the federal government abdicates its responsibility, don't states have inherent police power and concurrent rights to enforce their borders? >> well, okay, so let's -- let's talk a bit about political action right now. >> gregg: give me a direct answer, please. >> chris kobotz, the designer of the law, designed this law directly to challenge federal authority, so in a sense this really is about getting the federal government to act. gregg: i asked you about concurrent authority and the supreme court says that does exist when it comes to immigration. concurrent authority. >> i'm not disagreeing that there is not an issue of concurrent authority but as you pointed out, in the lawsuit in alabama, they're probably going to strike down those provisions which would allow local law enforcement officers to enforce this law, because there are very real

questions and problems about whether or not this is enforceable, which is why i'm trying to point out that he's laws in arizona and in alabama are more political about making statements about getting the federal government involved in passing comprehensive immigration reform, which is what this is really about. -- really about. we should be concentrating on the federal level. alabama has representatives, they have senators. if those guys feel so strongly about enforcement legislation, they should be passing it on the federal level, not in alabama where this is going to cost taxpayers a fortune. gregg: bob, we've got 30 seconds left. bob, real quick rebuttal. >> look, we won't do it here in washington, you can't do it at the state level, nobody can do it. if this administration -- >> why can't the federal government do this? >> gregg: may i say -- >> if the administration doesn't want to keep directing resources at states who are trying to -- >> but $600 million? this year alone. $600 million. >> -- border enforcement. >> border enforcement has

been -- >> gregg: you know what? nobody can understand you guys, because you're talking over each other. i'm going to get the last word, the fourth, eighth, ninth, tenth, circuit courts have upheld state actions on arresting illegals, it's now in the hands of the supreme court. we'll wait and see. gentlemen, thank you. martha: there you go! don't try this at home, folks! horrifying new video shows -- look at this kid. can you believe this? playing chicken with a high speed -- can you imagine the conductor of that train? what went through his mind and his heart at that moment? we're going to show you that in a minute. gregg: plus new reports the obama administration may be taking drastic measures to save our crumbling housing market. we're going to tell you what we can do.

gregg: take a look at how the very first day of school ended for these kids riding the bus home. >> [explosion] gregg oh my. that happened in iowa, the driver first noticed smoke coming out of the steering wheel before flames began to spread. two students, smashed the back windows to help others escape. it took less than 15 minutes for the flames to completely engulf the bus. >> the smoke started coming out more and it caught on fire and it like kept popping, like the gas part or something, and the tires were popping. it was horrible. >> people were screaming like they all said we're going to die, we're going to die, but we all came out fine. >> [blast] gregg: that's true, everybody got out safely. thank goodness. martha: that's good news. in the meantime, let's talk about this problem in the

country, and that is the housing market. there are new reports that the white house is working on a new drastic plan to try to get this shaky housing market up off the ground and prevent yet another collapse, they want to let millions of homeowners are government-backed mortgages to refinance at today's lower rates, around 4 percent in most cases. fox business anchor cheryl casone joins us with more on this story. it feels like you've heard this story every few months, that they've got a new plan to help people stay in their homes or refinance. what's different about this one? >> what's different with this one, they want to help people refinance. we've had an idea floated around by the administration, that is for maybe the government, taxpayers buy out foreclosed homes, turn them into rental properties and the taxpayer makes money off of that. this one says why don't we let them refinance and it sounds great on paper and certainly we do need to see refinancing happening in the markets so we can get away from the glut of foreclosed homes, having said that, there are obstacles to this particular plan.

they're going to have to get investors that back mortgage-backed bonds, they're going to get them on board, who does the refinancing, the banks of this country and will the taxpayers have to put money out. taxpayers aren't going to want to put money out. they've had a lot of plans, this is one that is being discussed, and again, it looks good on the surface but the execution is the key here, because the government is going to have to get a lot of different parties involved, including the regulator, fannie and freddie. martha: it's in everybody's interest to allow it to hit bottom, so if you allow people to stay in their homes, real quick, on this rental idea, letting people stay in their home and rent the home, basically -- >> that is the first big idea we got, and they're trying to come up with something, that would be the government going in, buying these foreclosed properties, renovating them, renting them out, then probably having to hold on to them for a couple of years to get an income stream. is the government the right group, though, to do that?

they've always underestimate -- always overestimated who the plans would help. martha: all right, we'll see if this works. thanks, cheryl. gregg: some unconfirmed reports that libyan rebels could be closing in on moammar qaddafi. we're going to get the latest from the pentagon. martha: big stories today. then you've got hurricane irene, kicking up speed now, the bahamas getting battered, north carolina is batoning down the hatches now. we have more on the storm's track, right after this. you're missing that part of your life that just fulfills you. ♪ [ male announcer ] for us at humana, relationships matter too. the better we know you, the better we can help you choose the right medicare plan. that's why humana agents sit down with you to figure out your medicare options. and we have nurses you can call anytime, even at 3 a.m.

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martha: big, big story at this hour and that of course, is irene, now, a swirling buzzsaw over the bahamas, at this hour, slicing a path across the caribbean heading for american soil, and is now a category-3 storm, barrelling towards the eastern seaboard. threatening a direct hit, north carolina looks like the first place in the united states that it will make landfall, and that would be the first major hurricane to hit the northeast in 20 years. so, brace yourselves, folks, we have a brand new hour of

"america's newsroom," lots to report, lots of stories popping, i'm martha maccallum, we are glad you are here. gregg: i'm gregg jarrett in for bill hemmer, folks across the carolinas bracing for tornado force winds and torrential rain and long island could see the first hit since gloria,, in 198. martha: here's the scene in cuba, as the storm, nearly 600 miles wide, the storm, bears down on a 2,000 mile stretch of american soil, in the coming 48 hours or so and we have team fox coverage for you. rick levin that you mean is live in new york city where mayor bloomberg has been talking about preparation and we also want to check back in with phil keating and see how he is doing. we have been watching him hold on over the course of the morning as irene batters the bahamas. how is it going? >> reporter: well, martha, it was a whirly-gig of wind ferocity this morning and the winds died done a little bit in nassau as the aye iseye is 70 m

away from nassau, in the northeast direction and is moving 12 mile-an-hour march towards the u.s. coastline. and pan around the island, on video stream, through the internet, there is a little bit of break-up and we'll pan slowly as we do this. this is the beach, desolate, wind-swept all day long, furniture strewn about and we watched a lot of the thatched roofs and thatched umbrellas, moving around and they did a good job of moving everything in yesterday, the staff of the sheridan hotel, but for all the tourists stuck in nassau because they couldn't get out of the island because the airport closed at 2:00, well, they are basically just hunkering down, and, riding it out, at this point. we are getting reports that in and around downtown nassau, the nation's capitol, there are power outages and power lines down, blocking roadways and

making some inaccessible and as far that's storm surge, which predicted 7 to 11 feet, at least on this beach, right here, cable beach, just west of downtown nassau, we -- i think the waves and the surge has really mellowed out over the past couple of hours. so, right now, the northwestern bahamas, those are really getting the lashing pounding of the bands and the eye of the storm and then, of course, the cat-3, producing 115 mile-per-hour winds, could actually grow into a category-4, before approaching the coastline of the carolinas, back to you, martha. martha: we have been watching the storm go through there, across phil keating's area and now is moving a little beyond where he is, the worst of it. a tiny strip of sand, 20 miles off of the coast of the mainland, not where you want to be, necessarily when winds are 115 miles per hour and 5 foot

storm surge plows along the shoreline and folks on the outer banks of north carolina, one of the most popular vacation spots in the country, packing up, getting on the ferry, fleeing those remote barrier islands, in the face of irene. >> everybody in town is talking about, you know, the storm, and, having, you know, to leave the island, so, everybody was kind of talking about the evacuation, so, we heard it from the shops, and from the people, just around town. >> we're thinking of packing up and possibly leaving like late tonight, early in the morning, thursday morning, 3:00, 4:00 in the morning and we're make it by ear to see what they say and what the track of the storm is going to be. martha: south carolina, also hunkering down, low-lying coastal areas, expecting widespread flooding, and possibly damage as the storm skates by a major resort like myrtle beach. a lot of folks trying to enjoy their vacation this last week of the summer. gregg: hate to see that happen

and the u.s. navy, they have to get out of irene's way, the second fleet leaving norfolk naval station in virginia. nearly 70 ships and submarines and all of their sailors, steaming out to sea, to, get out of the path of the big storm. rick leventhal is live in our new york city newsroom with more. how are the navy's preps going so far. >> reporter: obviously the goal is to keep the ship safe from the hurricane's damages winds and surf and they are making progress, moving a couple dozen ships to ships yards at the base and 300 vessels headed to sea and the ships can better weather seas, by riding them out, instead of smashing up at the piers, challenging days and nights ahead for sailors on board who may be in the rides of their lives, high seas and winds that could reach well over 100 miles per hour at sea and once the storm passes the 64 ships will head back to norfolk, gregg. gregg: what about the tens of millions at risk in the

northeast. >> a number of states are making preparations, new jersey, rhode island, maine, new york, we haven't been hit by a major hurricane, in 20 years, but with the earthquake last week the odds are not in the city's favor and officials have activated the emergency operations center where they typically handle blizzards and major snowstorms and now are working on evacuation plans for low-lying areas and preparing for worst-case scenarios and prepping more than 100 shelters for evacuees, and people with special needs, just in new york. and one of the biggest concerns, of course, is storm surge and michael bloomberg is telling people to stay out of the water: >> the most dangerous thing in this city, probably, where you are most likely to have tragedy is people that go swimming. don't go swimming if there is not a lifeguard there. don't go swimming when the beaches get closed. and, i know some people love to go in the rough waves, and it is exciting, but it is dangerous. >> reporter: the mayor was asked what would happen to people who don't heed warnings, he said,

they could die. you are looking at the storm track now, you can see, the danger could be greatest in central to eastern long island, and, the way it looks now, the path of the storm could make a direct hit on the hamptons, gregg and we know there's a lot of people out there, ending the summer, right now. gregg: so much for the perennial hamptons weekend in new york. >> reporter: not going to be a good one, this weekend. gregg: skip this one. few hurricanes ever came close to new york city and in fact since 1851, only five have tracked within 75 miles of the big apple. hurricane gloria, the most recent one, tracked back in 1985, eerily similar to this one, irene's projected path and gloria made landfall in north carolina's outer banks, september 27, 1985 and at the time was a category-3 and traveled all the way up the east coast, lashing new york's long island with 80 to 100 miles per hour, all told, it caused $900

million worth of damage in today's dollars. at least 8 people in the united states died as a result of gloria. and, 3/4 of a million people lost power, in the northeast. so, that gives you a little perspective. martha: might be in for it. all right, back to the huge story, that we are working on, at fox news, right now and that is there are unconfirmed reports that libyan rebels say they have muammar qaddafi and two of his sons, surrounded in tripoli. let's go to jennifer griffin, who is working the phones of course from the pentagon, and, what are you hearing about this? >> reporter: well, martha, a senior u.s. defense official tells me based on their latest intelligence, they still believe that muammar qaddafi is in tripoli. is in the capital of tripoli but cannot confirm reports from the rebels they've surrounded an apartment block where they think they have muammar qaddafi and his sons surrounded. that is a block of apartments, not far from the compound that was stormed of course by the opposition in recent days. there is also another report by

french reporters, suggesting that about 10:00 a.m. on wednesday, the rebels made it to a safe house, where they believe muammar qaddafi had spent the night and they found evidence that he had recently been there and narrowly had managed to -- narrow -- he had narrowly escaped and the pentagon cannot confirm those reports, either. but, again, they are still working under the assumption that muammar qaddafi is in the capital of tripoli. the u.k.'s foreign minister, foreign secretary, just said that the brits are providing intelligence and surveillance, nato is still flying surveillance war planes over the captains of tripoli and they say this is far from over. and, again, that intelligence is helping the rebels as they move and continue to look for muammar qaddafi. martha: obviously that would be a huge development if they are indeed accurate about that.

jennifer, thank you so much for that, reporting from the pentagon and we'll follow it throughout the day. gregg: a leading democrat calling on president obama to fire the white house jobs czar. why dennis kucinich says ge executive jeff immelt is unfit to advise the president on creating jobs and republican senator ron johnson will join us live in a moment. martha: and we've heard the story of september 11th told from so many perspectives except from this man's perspective and now, september 11th from president george w. bush's memories of that day. we'll show you this new documentary, pieces of it. it is stunning. gregg: not much you can do when you are piloting a speeding locomotive and suddenly this happens... [ music playing, indistinct conversations ]

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martha: we're watching the hurricane irene of course on the east coast and you have tornadoes in the midwest. check out this video, from the police officer's dashcam, where the funnel cloud is tearing across wisconsin. national weather service confirmed two powerful twisters touching down in clark county, wisconsin and authorities say at least one man died after the storm knocked out power to his oxygen machine. disaster teams report at least four homes were destroyed by that twister. gregg: there are calls for the so-called white house jobs czar to step down and they are not coming from republicans or conservative commenters. no. dennis kucinich, a liberal democrat from ohio, saying that president obama should fire jeff immelt, if he doesn't step down, and immelt is the ceo of general electric, and kucinich says he is unfit to counsel the president on creating jobs, just

hours after the congressional budget office predicted unemployment above 8% for at least another couple of years. senator ron johnson, wisconsin republican, on the senate budget committee, joins us. senator, nice to have you with us. immelt is create be jobs, all right. for the chinese. he's doing a deal with the chinese, which will compete for jobs with u.s. workers. should the president fire immelt and, moreover, should this deal be stopped because immelt will be giving the chinese our aerospace technology partly developed by nasa? >> he's also shipping jobs right from wisconsin, over to china as well. but, truthfully, i don't see what good replacing basically deck chairs on the titanic is going to do. president obama just replaced bad advisors with somebody else, that shares his ideological of a large and expanding government and looking for government to solve the problems and what we need to do is repeal and replace

his policies. those policies, obamacare, dodd-frank, all the regulations that he is imposing on job creators and people who actually can get our economy growing again, that need to be repealed and replaced. gregg: i'm get to those regulations in a moment. i want to hit another subject. as you know the jobless claims came out about an hour ago, and, they are up. 417,000, and, the cbo issued a pretty gloomy report, slow growth, 8.5% unemployment through election day and a federal deficit expected to hit $1.3 trillion in 2011. if president obama's new major jobs plan, which will come out after labor day, includes more government spending, what is the reaction going to be in the u.s. senate, among you and your colleagues there? >> well, it is going to be more of the same. we have already experimented spending $4 trillion we don't

have and incurred $4 trillion of additional debt in the last three years trying to stimulate the economy and the only thing we've got is a job loss of 2.1 million jobs, and so many people dropped out of the labor market, if we are back at 66%, labor participation, our unemployment rate would be standing at 12%. and that is probably more accurate a figure about how damaging this president's policies have been to our economy. no, it is not a rosy picture by any stretch of the imagination. gregg: and a moment ago you mentioned that regulations under this president have really mushroomed since he took office, and, i did a little digging to check on that. here's what i found: jobs at regulatory agencies up 13%. regulatory budgets up 16%. regulations overall, up 25%, and these regs are costing small businesses, really the engine of

the economy, 11,000 per worker. now, you have proposed a bill to create a moratorium on major regulations. how would that work? >> well, basically, it would say, let's stop the madness until our unemployment rate drops below the level it was when president obama took office, 7.8%, it is obvious all of the regulations are making it difficult for businesses to expand and create jobs and, you know, gregg, you mentioned a couple of figures. the sba, small business administration, commissioned a study to ask how much does it cost to comply with federal regulation on an annual basis? and the result was $1.75 trillion. 12% of our $14.5 trillion economy. it is obvious our regulatory environment is onerous in this country as well as our high corporate tax rates is making america a very unattractive place for business investment in a global economy and global capital will go where it is easier to create jobs, and, make

a profit, and, right now that is not in the u.s., it is a very bad place for us to be and we needed to reverse the damage of the obama agenda. gregg: senator ron johnson, thanks for being with us. appreciate it. >> thanks for having me on. martha: former vice president dick cheney is talking about his time in the white house, now. and, the time that george w. bush would not listen to him, a lot of good stuff in his biography, coming up, plus, this picture says more than a thousand words. as a navy s.e.a.l.'s dog refuses to leave his side. that story, coming up next. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made.

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gregg: our top stories this hour, former vice president dick cheney revealing rifts inside

the white house in his new autobiography and he urged president bush to bomb syria and the rest of the room disagreed and another example he explains colin powell tried to undermine president bush. and tens of thousands of evacuees in northern california finally returning home. firefighters finally in control of a burning rail car, filled with liquid propane, that caught fire on tuesday. a pakistani police chief backpedaling after announcing a kidnapped american was rescued. nearly two weeks ago, armed men grabbed the consultant from his home in lahore and u.s. officials in washington also telling fox news reports of his release appear to be false. martha: it is a special story for you today. a fallen navy s.e.a.l.'s dog refuses to leave his master's side, even in death. 35-year-o the 35-year-old died in that

chopper crash in early august that killed 21 other seals and his labrador retriever, hawkeye was at the funeral to say good-bye and led the family into the ceremony, and then spent the rest of the service, as close to the casket as possible. lying there on the floor in front of it. here's a picture of them in much happier days, hawkeye and john together on the beach, friends and family say that john always wanted to be a navy s.e.a.l. and, that he died living that dream. kimt's shane delaney has the story. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: john's sister describe the brother as someone they always looked up to and someone should showed so much strength, courage, determination and selfless love. even john's dog, hawkeye, knew his master was gone, hawkeye laid by the casket for the duration of the funeral. keeping a watchful eye on his friend. ♪ ♪ hold you in the palm of his

hand...♪ >> reporter: as he's brought to his final resting place, family and friends know he died living out his passion. and his loved ones believe he is with them now, more than he was when serving overseas. ♪ ♪... palm of his hand... martha: what a story. our thanks to shane delaney for bringing us that story and, what a tremendous loss of all of those men and our hearts and our prayers are with them. and their families. as they continue to have the ceremonies to remember those that they loved and those that they lost. gregg: incredible, touching story, really. martha: man's best friend. gregg: "fox news alert," a major hurricane threatening the u.s., east coast now, tens of millions of americans potentially in irene's way.

we're expecting a brand new update on the storm's projected path, just a few minutes from now. martha: and how about this question? should god be taken out of the 9/11 memorial service? why the city of new york has made the decision they will not include any clergy members in the very important tenths anniversary event. we'll get reaction from father jonathan morris on this. may not be what you think. we'll be right back.  

gregg we are awaiting the very latest update from the national hurricane center which should be coming in about 30 minutes from now, irene is shaping up to be one of the most significant storms in years. set to slam north carolina, new york, new jersey, new england. >> i like the beach too much. >> want to stay as long as possible. >> yeah. >> you're looking at a hurricane, which is everything from a tidal surge for 10-13 feet. this one has the same aspects as gloria, except a lot closer. gregg: janice dean is live in the fox extreme weather center. what's the latest on this thing? >> reporter: hearing that guy say gloria, that's very scary, they haven't seen a hurricane like gloria, in decades, a generation, gregg. it certainly looks like -- you were asking about the computer models, i'm going to show you that in a second. you can see the outer bands are moving to south florida so they are getting rough surf, high waves and rain bands but this storm is not

going to make landfall in florida, it is going to be influenced by a trough across the northeast and picked up nored ward -- northward and make its landfall across the outer bangs and second potentially across the northeast, the new england coastline. the surface temperatures, very, very warm, in the path of this storm, so even if we see the storm downgraded slightly with the next advisory, there's is good chance it's going to go up again to a cot goer three, possibly a category four within a very short period of time. gregg, want to point out, these are the latest forecast models, most of the reliable forecast models does show a landfall across the outer banks, cape hatteras, north carolina, saturday into sunday, okay, but we're feeling the effects of this storm friday into saturday, possible tropical storm force winds, hurricane force winds, depending upon how far west that track goes. and then into sunday and monday, these, again, are the reliable forecast tracks, and we're looking at indeed a second landfall,

there's new jersey, there is long island, extraordinarily vulnerable, one of our most vulnerable spots for a hurricane storm surge in the country and towards new england. so we've got to really concentrate on the next update that comes in at 1:00 -- 11:00, we'll have a better grasp of when and where the intensity of the storm happens, and when it does make a landfall, it's going to be somewhere along the northeast or mid atlantic coastline. gregg: janice dean, we'll check back with you. you've got a lot of work ahead of you. thank you very much. martha: all right. >> ♪ >> ♪ >> martha: that music means we're going to talk about 9/11 and the tenth anniversary that's coming up, and there is a new controversy now that is heating up over the memorial service in new york city, the city has decided that no religious leaders will be included in that event that will be held near the world trade center site. city leaders saying that the ceremony is going to be about the families and about the victims, but some

critics are shocked and thankfully, very sur -- and frankly, very surprised this decision was decided and that many prayers helped many get through that tragedy. joining us is jonathan morris, catholic priest, and good morning, father. >> good morning, martha, thank you. martha: good to see you as always. you said that you think mayor bloomberg has gotten too much heat for all of this in some ways. >> yes and no. i would say this is not a grand conspiracy, like on my facebook people are saying this is the worst thing that's ever happened to the world, but it's not a grand conspiracy of secularists, trying to get -- just as mayor bloomberg, just as he is excluding emergency workers, which is huge, he's also excluding religious leaders, saying we're going to focus on the families, that said, saying that his

intentions i think are good, i think for our country, this is an unhappy and unhealthy and an unholy mistake in leadership. why? because you cannot say that the families and the victims are somehow living in an island, separated from their religion, separated from the fact that this was a national tragedy, that involved emergency and rescue workers. i think it's a very simple thing to correct. there's still time. having ten religious leaders of the major faiths, representing the victims and their families is a wonderful, american, beautiful thing. martha: you think about the day, and just the huge spiritual, overwhelming spiritual feeling that was generated in so many people, in those days and the days after, and of course the services that remembered all of those people. >> certainly. martha: and i know so many people who felt they could never have gotten through it without the help of their priest or their rabbi or religious person in their

lives, and you feel that component of it, it does feel like at the very least a missed opportunity. >> definitely. martha: to think about. you know, that -- >> let's be honest. this was an attack by pseudo religious people. what a great opportunity to rectify that with real religion, representing peace, representing unity, representing the families and the victims. mayor bloomberg is right that this should not be a face time for all the politicians from all over the country that would love to be here, but let's say and let's be honest that religious leaders there, as well as emergency workers, are very much uniquely tied in to these families and victims. martha: you would think that a blessing of several different -- a handful of different religious leaders would just feel so appropriate. >> most definitely. and including muslim representation. >> martha: absolutely. >> there are muslims who died. >> martha: that's right. i can't think of that day

without thinking of so many things but i think of father michael judge, chaplain for the fire department of new york who rushed to the scene, this is a picture of him being carried out, he rushed to the scene, administered and prayed over the bodies of so many people, and when the buildings fell down, father michael judge was struck by flying debris that came down from the building and he was killed there as well. and they carried his body to a church that was right there, and laid it near the altar, is my understanding. >> that's right. martha: which is a proper -- >> emptying out this ceremony of any religious sentiment does not make this a more dignified, simple, wonderful event. what it does is it makes it less what it was in the moment, and that is a moment, also, of spiritual truth. martha: it's become such a huge thing that you can understand the temptation to sort of categorize it, you know, it just has to be

families and victims, everybody seems to want a piece of, for good reason and maybe wrong reasons as well, so you can understand his temptation saying this is the easiest way i can think of to draw the line but you do hope that perhaps he'll reconsider. >> bloomberg has been gracious to religious leaders in the past and i'm sure that's his intention now. i think, as i said, it's just a mistake in leadership. martha: and it breaks the heart of so many rescue workers as well who were such a huge part of it and they say we are family, we are victims, and they want to be there, too. so it's a tough call. but something that we still have time to consider. father jonathan, thank you very much. >> my pleasure. martha: always good to see you, father jonathan morris, we thank him for being here today. gregg: former president george w. bush is planning to attend the 9/11 ceremony in new york, but this weekend, you can catch his most in depth and intimate interview to date about that horrible day. here's a preview: >> ♪ >> ♪ >> and andy card's

massachusetts accent was whispering in my ear, a second plane has sit the second tower, america is under attack. my first reaction was anger, you know? who would do that to america. and then, i immediately focused on the children. and the contrast between the notion of an attack and the innocence of children clarified my job. and that's to protect people gregg: george w. bush, the 9/11 interview, premiering sunday, august 28th, 10:00 p.m. eastern and pacific on the national geographic channel. be sure to tune into "america's newsroom" tomorrow. we're going to be talking to the documentary's direct -- director who got president bush's first on camera remarks about the death of usama bin laden. i'd love to hear that. martha: i had a chance to look at this and it's stunning, and i encourage

everybody to tune in tomorrow to listen while we talk to the director about this, because i can't wait to get his thoughts about sitting down with president bush and really having that amount of time to get all of his recollections about the whole day. it's really, truly, a piece of history, and we're very glad to have him with us tomorrow. i encourage all of you to tune in tomorrow for that interview coming up as we tune in tomorrow, on friday. let's get you to this story for a moment, dash cam video from a speeding locomotive. watch this. an express train, barreling through a station and that young man decided it would be a good idea to jump in front of it, just to prove he could. thank god he survived. we're going to talk about that. gregg: are we seeing the end of moammar qaddafi? there are reports that the mad dog of the middle east may be cornered.

>>

martha: a serious tpwus crash to tell you about that has left the driver and one passenger in critical condition. the bus crashed into two tractor trailers in new jersey. take a look at this scene, the american bus association says the driver has 11 years of experience, was well rested, had no violations on his license, it was traveling from new york city to washington, d.c. gregg: there are reports crossing the wire, unconfirmed, that a group of libyan rebels have moammar qaddafi and some of his sons cornered inside a residential compound, apparently holed up in an apartment building. again, unconfirmed. in the meantime, new calls for the united states to keep qaddafi's vast weapons arsenal out of the hands of al-qaeda, shul-fired rockets, capable of taking down airliners, even wmds like mustard gas, all at

risk for looting, and now a new report suggests al-qaeda is entrenched among the libyan rebels. stephen yates, former deputy assistant to vice president for national security affairs, and president of d.c. international advisory, joins us. stephen, thank you for being with us. >> thank you, gregg. gregg: this al-qaeda being -- al-qaeda, amir, we have his name, sheikh belhaj is now a commander of libya's rebels. how alarming is that, do you think it's true? >> i have my doubts about it being true, but of course we have to watch these things intensely as they unfold. the world in the -- the word could mean commander, a reference to past positions in the islamic front in libya prior to this conflict. he also could just be an opportunistic self-promoter at the moment. they're going through a process of putting forward a national assembly to talk

about next steps in their political transition. this would be deeply alarming if it were true. i just have my doubts, given the swarm of information in libya right now. greg gregg all right. mike rodgers, head of the select intel committee in the house who is really raising alarm bells now because he says look, there could be mustard gas, up to 10 tons in various locations in libya, as well as maybe as many as 20,000 man pads with shoulder-fired missiles that can take down airliners. what can be done to secure the weapons stockpile to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands? >> i certainly hope this is something the administration has put an eagle eye watch on from the outbreak of hostilities in libya many, many months ago. the nexus of wmd and islamist groups is a nightmare scenario. much, much could be done to bolster the capacity of the new emerging government in libya. hopefully we have access already -- assets on the ground, military and

intelligence-wise and i tr*s our intelligence services are given accurate targeting information throughout the nato campaign to maybe have a better handle on this than we're getting now. but this is a very, very high priority, al-qaeda is in neighboring states like algeria, there's no doubt that activists will try to take the opportunity in libya. gregg: we are helping the libyan officials try to locate moammar qaddafi, we have agents on the ground and using surveillance equipment as well to try to locate him. i imagine that it extends to weapons stockpiles as well. what do you make of this report that qaddafi may be cornered, still in tripoli at a residential compound? >> obviously, i support any effort to corner him and eliminate him, with all due speed. but i think that it's a little troubling we have invested so many millions of dollars in our intelligence services and in collaboration with allies in this kind of a campaign. there's a little bit of a where's waldo exercise in

trying to get qaddafi. i certainly hope we have more accuracy in tracking down the wmd sites and controlling those assets but to me it's an argument for deeper, prompter engagement with these folks on the ground who are going to be the -- guiding the future to get a better handle on where this stuff is and -- >> gregg: i understand the council has a proposed constitution. i think you've looked into that. is it more secular than under qaddafi's rule? >> it is slightly more secular than under qaddafi's rule, and of course, it contains language that wouldn't be what i or any other reasonable american would want in a constitution, but it is closely aapproximating what in other constitutions across this region, including both consulates in iraq, it walls language that tries to put in place that no law that contraconveniences islam shall be established, and there are other references that could be troubling, but

i think that it is well within what the mainstream of the region is, which is in need of further reform, by the way. gregg: stephen yates, national security expert, thank you very much for being with us, see you soon. >> any time, gregg, thank you. martha: we continue to get brand new images of hurricane irene and these are the waves that are lashing cocoa beach. check out this guy! oh my gosh. gregg: what is that? >> martha: it's like a para sail-type surfing? looks like it would be fun to try on a calmer day. but mayor bloomberg has said if you're in the mood to do something like this around the new york beaches, please, do not but for now, that guy is getting quite a ride as that storm comes in. gregg: look at that! martha: jenna dinoo jano jenna lee likes to do that on the weekends. jenna: is that what you do on the jersey shore? i don't know. martha: i do that all the

time, just like that guy! >> jenna: he was taking quite a ride. we'll have to get to the story we're watching and we'll be watching that guy as well. we have dramatic developments in libya, as steve was just talking about , and also, hurricane irene, strengthening, giving us those good waves, janice is live object our chat today, taking your questions about the storm. and speaking of forecasters, larry sabato is here with his 2012 election crystal ball, why some states will be so vital in time -- this time around. martha: i could watch surfing videos all way long. that's the truth. i could. jenna: you and me both. martha: thank you jenna. here's what was thought on a -- here's what was caught on surveillance video, a wild car chase, multiple officers crashing their cruisers. the details on the suspects and the horrifying ending to this story. >> i'm trying to hold my spot, with the gas, at that speed.

gregg chilling dash cam video that claimed a police officer's life, look at this, chasing a man through fernando county, florida when a deputy lost control and slammed into power lines, there were sparks flying everywhere, that officer suffered only minor injuries but sadly, seconds later, another officer was killed when he lost control of his cruiser and hit a tree, and a married father of three was trying to make the suspect spin out. >> well, for nearly a century, idaho's lake lowell has been a gathering place for friends in the summer but the federal government

is threatening to close it down, all because of a bird. who better to ask about this than douglas kennedy, live in the new york city newsroom with the late -- latest installment in the taking our liberty series. >> reporter: yes, federal environmentalists say this is absolutely necessary to protect local wildlife. the controversy that's hitting birds versus boaters in central idaho. >> are there those right there? >> reporter: the federal government wants to stop david ferdinan from doing what he was doing since he was a kid, boating on lake lowell in central idaho. this is basically a boating community here. >> that's right, boating, recreation, these people love this like. -- this lake. >> that's the purpose of the prohibition, according to the u.s. fish and wildlife service, is to protect the species of water foul. a county commissioner and resident around tampa, idaho

are outraged, recently staging this protest rally. the go the gre. b isn't an endangered species. >> it is not. a lot of people don't believe that they really are indigenous to this area. >> in fact, lake lowell isn't even a natural lake. it's a man-made reservoir, created by idaho's pioneers to irrigate their crops. >> we've got people who are mad, because a lot of the recreational boaters out here -- >> addison moor is a federal biologist at lake lowell and says he has to obey the priorities of the refuge improvement act. >> the process is mandated by congress, it has to be done. >> the fish and wildlife reps say this is a federal refuge, which means people outside of idaho get to decide what goes on here. what do you say to that? >> they want to shut it down. not in canyon county and not in idaho. they don't control what happens with this water and this wildlife refuge in this county. >> he says the decisions about idaho should be made

by people in idaho, martha. that's it from here. back to you. martha: we especially like that cruise-by that you did in the boat! very impressive. >> lake lowell is a fun place to go boating! martha: thank you douglas, always good to see you. gregg: a fox news alert, tracking hurricane irene, awaiting the latest advisory from the national hurricane center, just minutes away. where is it going to hit, and how hard? coming up.

gregg: some breaking news, the president on vacation in martha's vineyard, off the coastline, and he's getting some information on the tracking of irene, there is it at the righthand side of your screen, apparently a conference call with his chief of staff, as well as the f.e.m.a. director, secretary of homeland security, about the track and preparations that are being made for the united states' east coast to handle this thing. wouldn't it be eye