gone, the travel nightmare begins. hundreds of flights grounded all across this great nation and it could stay that way for days. what you need to know before you leave the house this morning. >> and one proud new yorker turns irene's flooding into an adult swim. look at him. why new york's best dad was doing the freestyle down the middle of the road. that guy is going to be with us live to talk to him in the green room. he is absolutely dry. in this hour of "fox & friends." >> not only is he dry, he's wearing that shirt. the world's best dad shirt. >> well, for that great moment, he was the world's best swimmer. >> you're right. he prevailed. >> what was he thinking? we'll talk a little bit about that shirt. >> we were talk about the impact of irene on saturday a lot. you talked about irene hitting on sunday and today is the

beginning of the aftermath of irene. the flooding is happening and also the scramble to repair the damage and get the lights on. >> especially at our houses. >> right, you guys are both without power and the threat of irene is now moving inland. we have incredible new flood video to show you. take a look at these raging waters out of bennington, vermont. >> it looks like niagara falls. >> not a coastal city. as this road is completely flooded. the state is seeing some of ok,

scene there. tell us what it looks like and what's been going on in benning ton, vermont because that has not gotten much publicity but the pictures are shocking. all right. we're looking at the pictures right there. >> yeah, they really are. you know, it's a scary thing and sometimes we don't realize how bad stuff is until you start to get the pictures out of a place and take a look at what's happened in bennington, vermont, this is southwestern vermont and the video is quite striking. a car, yeah, a car that's rushing down rivers, trees that are running down mainstream that have been knocked over and this

town in a world of hurt, a lot of these areas that have been dealing with rainfall rates that were up to about 12 inches falling in a period of 10 hours and you get that kind of rain across hilly terrain and all that war has to run somewhere and it runs in towards these streams and, unfortunately, these towns have been devastated by this. and massive destruction across this town. not just bennington but all kinds of towns across much of the northeast because everybody got significant rain at least 4 to 8 inches and in some spots, probably about 15 inches of rain. >> all right. rick reichmuth live on the beach in new york. thank you very much. meanwhile, hurricane irene's wrath could be felt for days especially if you're trying to hop a flight. right now, j.f.k. and newark airports have reopened as of six minutes ago for arrivals only. departures start at noon. laguardia airport will be open to both arrivals and departures one hour from now at 7:00 a.m. be aware, delays are still expected in addition to the more

than 11,000 cancellations that happened over the weekend, grounding roughly 650,000 people and there are a lot of airplanes that are not in position right now. >> all right. i was wondering today is the long island railroad going to be up? nearly all of new york city's 222 s22 subway lines are up and running on a normal schedule after a shutdown, the first shutdown in the city's history, that's true for the same amtrak trains. all service from boston to philadelphia canceled. your best bet is to call amtrak or check their web site or just stay home. >> from web site to wet site, let's talk about your house. >> yeah. massapequa seem to have gotten slammed. we left back and came back and i took some video because i have this ipad and i took some video of the area so this was totally barren at 9:00 a.m. by 10:30 a.m., the rain had stopped and the whole block had been taken over by water. >> is that the street? >> that's my street in front of

my house. >> yesterday morning. >> yesterday morning at about 11:00. at 9:00 there was no water and the rain had already stopped. the whole block south of there was just about up to my radiator so you had the canals emptying and then the water coming down and people had been in my area since the 70's said through all the hurricanes we've had, we've had nothing like this. it would stop half way. by no means, the worst anyone has experienced but anyone on long island if you wanted to see what it was like on the south shore of long island, i think this is pretty typical. >> house flooded? >> no, it already went up to the apron. we don't have power and my screen door was blown off. >> wow. >> yeah, so it was the whole south shore and it just -- there might have been more serious hurricanes but in terms of water, no one could remember it being this bad. >> town over from where i live, wayne, new jersey, got 10 inches of rain yesterday and now all those rivers are trying to catch up and it is a big, fat mess over there. meanwhile, let's talk a little

bit about this. atlantic, the web site and magazine as well has an item today and the headline is "hurricane irene and americans self-centeredness" and what it talks about

the fact that there was a category 1 hurricane coming to the east coast and that it was going to shut down parts of new york and the 24 fatalities had happened, that's a news story. >> it impacted 65 million americans. 1 in 5 people in this country was impacted by that and just because it wasn't a category 3 storm, you know, look at the flooding. >> but here's the point. now, they have quotes from people from serbia in this article. fine, but if a hurricane was hitting serbia, serbian tv has an obligation on their national serbian network to cover that hurricane. no one -- they would not lead with libya and find qaddafi story if their country -- if 1 of every 5 people in serbia or england were hit by this. to me, this is the biggest -- this is another chance to tweak america. >> absolutely. i heard chris christie yesterday say that one of the things about the criticism was, look, we really prepared everybody. we told you how bad it could be and we really prepared.

we told people to get out of the way. and those preparations probably saved lives. and i'm completely with him. but e-mail us right now. don't you think it is better to be prepared and know what could possibly be heading your way rather than not doing that? friends at foxnews.com. we'll try to read some of your comments later on. >> now to the rest of your headlines. the man police call the hurricane killer has been found dead apparently after turning his gun on himself. an army captain is accuse of killing his ex-wife, her boyfriend, his son and ex-mother-in-law as hurricane irene hit the east coast. several neighborhoods in pennsylvania were put on lockdown until his body was found in the woods. he recently turned from his third deployment to iraq and afghanistan. he was supposedly dying two years ago, the reports say that the lockerbie bomber abdelbaset ali al-megrahi is actually on his deathbed now. his family says he's in a coma and there's no doctors available since the rebels kicked out muammar qaddafi.

he returned to a hero's welcome when scotland released him on compassionate grounds. there had been calls for him to return to scotland. they will not extradite a libyan citizen to the west. president obama will reportedly nominate a new chairman of the white house council of economic advisors today. he's princeton labor economist alan krueger. he served as assistant treasury secretary for economic policy for the first two years of the president's administration. and was also a chief economist at the labor department during the clinton administration. his nomination is expected to be confirmed by the senate. and she's back in action! d.c. comics is bringing back bat girl this week after a 20-year absence. where has she been? the story is about a quiet librarian named barbara gordon who suddenly becomes a gritty crime fighter. in 1988, her character was shot and perilized by taralyzed by t. bat girl was cool, i remember

that. >> i can't quite figure out, is she attracted to batman? >> it was ambiguous. >> if it wasn't for the potion, that man wouldn't have fallen in love with her, am i right? magic potion. >> but batwoman and catwoman are completely -- >> bat girl. >> and bat girl -- >> they're different but you've never seen them in the same room or have you? >> uh-huh. >> cat woman -- >> right. cat woman. that's who had the almost love affair with batman. >> right. >> there you go. >> sorry, my fault. frontrunner mitt romney is crushing the president in florida. can president obama win back that state or is it too late? washington insiders up next. >> then this proud new yorker didn't let a little flooding ruin his spirits! why he jumped head first in the floodwaters for his son. he is here in that shirt to tell us why. the "mystery spot". not a mammal in this household isilling to lay claim to its origin.

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>> all right. 16 minutes after the hour. unexpected victim of hurricane irene is inland southern new jersey and pennsylvania with several rivers cresting way above usual. steve from our affiliate at wtxf is in trenton this morning. so this is a surprise? >> yeah, right. well, i'll tell you something, here's a little name of a little stream that you've never heard of. and it runs through trenton, the delaware river is flooding trenton big time but here is the story that's going to affect hundreds of thousands of folks especially you people in new york. if you're going north. this is why rail

>> the philadelphia rail people figured let's leave our trains there and they're now sitting flooded so you have water over e

fun in the flood caused by irene, he went for a swim while sporteding his new york best dad t-shirt for his 3-year-old son to see on tv, peter arnold is dry and he's on the couch this morning. good morning to you, peter. >> good morning, thanks for having me. >> what were you thinking? >> not much, i think weri, dur that time. i'm starting to start a new fitness craze called street swimming. it's like you only have to do it once every three or four years during a hurricane. that's how i keep so svelte, very low cardio workout. >> there you go. you saw -- you saw channel 5, local fox affiliate camera guy there and you coordinated with him for you to do this and you were trying to make sure that your 3-year-old son saw that. why? >> well, i've been going through a little bit of a separation with my ex. so i don't see him that much and i was going to see him that day because of the storm, i was going to be nervous and worried and i want to let him know his father is thinking about him and

you see your father jumping into the water, you won't be too scared. >> right after you got out of the water, you talked to the fox guy and here's what you said. >> so i went for that -- >> all right. tell me about the water. cold? warm? what's it like? >> i have to tell you, it's very nice. i had a very light breakfast. i didn't cramp up during my long swim right there. the water was quite brisk but refreshing. >> all right. the key was you were trying to impress your son. what's the reaction from your wife and son? >> i have to tell you, after seeing the -- my honesty through the hurricane to go out and make sure that i get a chance to tell him i love him and miss him and adam, i do love you and do i miss you. she's like you go out in the hurricane. i think you deserve to see your kid. and it looks like the fox 5 team and, unfortunately, hurricane irene was in one way a blessing for me and hopefully we can work it out. >> good for your family structure. >> peter arnold, the guy out in the street. >> if we have any puddles

outside the new york city area, folks, i'm your guy. >> there you go. or you can do some welding. >> thank you. >> straight ahead, hurricane irene brought more than just a surge in rain. it brought a surge in births. one of those new moms here live this hour. does president obama have a swing state problem? mitt romney now winning in florida. our washington insiders on what that could mean coming up in 2012. thanks to the venture card from capital one,

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stance. floridians are going to move away. >> romney is the one with the substantial lead over the president in florida. katie?

>> right. you look deeper into those numbers and 56% of floridians disapprove of the job that the president is doing. 55% of independents disapproving and i disagree. i think rick perry pointing out that social security is a ponzi scheme, is going to actually help voters in florida make a decision and you look at the reason why romney or rick perry are running neck and neck in competing with obama, they have business and economic experience which obama does not and he's failed on his economic policies going forward and romney and perry have something else to offer the country who is focused on jobs and the economy. >> you know, they have a governor who is in there whose approval ratings are not sky-high but he's cut the budget and balanced the budget and that seems to be more of what florida is into. why is it that romney does so much better than obama in florida? >> there are a few things, remember, romney among republican primary voters barely edges out perry. he didn't win the florida primary last time. it's unfair to say and wrong to say he has some kind of ground

swell of support in florida. that's why this field is so fluid. and i think another thing, there are going to be a lot of polls between now and next november, your viewers are very sophisticated when it comes to this type of thing looking at polls and figuring out what makes sense. that poll didn't talk to any voters who are cell phone only which is becoming really increasingly standard and makes a difference in a state like florida. >> katie -- right, and just real quick, i want to get katie in. katie, this is good news for romney against perry in particular because he's been -- he's been trounced from the headlines of late. >> it is good news for mitt romney but we have to remember that rick perry has been in the race for less than a month now so he still has a lot of work to do and a lot of minds to change and he has an opportunity to present himself as new. remember that mitt romney has already run for president. rick perry is new. he has an excellent jobs record in texas, excuse me, and overall, this isn't just a florida issue, this is a country issue. everyone in the country is

focused on jobs and the economy which obama has failed at and romney and perry are the ones who are offering solutions to that. >> you lose in florida, you lose. we've lost the time. great debate. thanks so much. >> thank you. >> thanks. should this little boy be suspended because his hair got too long. the school wants him out for his charitable effort. you'll find out why. hurricane irene brought another unexpected surprise. a surge in births. one of those new mothers here live.

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now check out the other guy's flake. hello, no seam. because it's more processed. now, which do you suppose has better nutrition for you? mmm. great grains. the whole whole grain cereal. >> all right. hurricane irene may be gone but her wrath is still being felt up and down the east coast including long beach, new york. the town there completely underwater. the streets don't look like streets anymore. they've been turned into rivers. >> looks like venice. >> basically. the water coming from brooks, creeks and rivers in the catskill mountains. let's head to our chief meteorologist for the aftermath of what it looks like there. how's it going? >> i'll tell you what, it's amazing to see how much sand can be moved around with storms and you realize how the ocean is constantly changing and as a

meteorologist, i always find that fascinating. you get a storm like this and when i first walked up here, i thought these were breaker walls and i realized these were benches at the end of this ramp to get up to the boardwalk that are now completely covered, at least the bench part is covered in sand. about 2 feet higher than was and this is the boardwalk where all of the water came crashing under yesterday and you can see big piles of sand that have been pushed underneath there. so kind of the face of this beach certainly being changed and they're going to have to do some big cleanup to it. a lot of money goes into these beaches to keep them clean and to make sure that they're in good shape. and remember, this next weekend, the last big weekend of summer, if you're from the southern tier of the country, which i am, i never realized that labor day is kind of the end of summer. and in these northern areas, it really is so they've got one big weekend left and they're hoping people will get back out here. obviously, it's such an economic story for them here but they have a lot of work to get this cleaned for this last weekend of

summer that's coming up. >> sure. they would have something to celebrate to have survived it. rick, we were talking about all the flooding, all the rivers and brooks and everything else in the area of wyndham, new york. tell us what's going on. >> it's such a beautiful town, a little ski town with resorts right around there and take a look at the video that's continuing to come in. the streets of the town are now turning into rivers of the town and so scary for the people there. but the river -- or the water that's coming off the hills pushing all of that kind of soil along with it, the topsoil and turning into these big muddy rivers that are up to people's doors and very scary. there's a woman who i know from being up there with the wounded warriors event who e-mailed me and said lived in wyndham and said the downtown has been destroyed and it's so scary for them to see what's happened so quickly and so suddenly. again, from a storm, guys, everybody thinks of a hurricane

being a coastal event. something that hits the coastal areas. we're probably about 200 miles inland up at wyndham and getting these kinds of effects from irene. and it's not just wyndhah. all kinds of towns from the northeast that are underwater especially in the mountainous areas as you head from new york, vermont, new hampshire, states that you don't think of getting impacts but having devastating effects from this. >> i'm glad you mentioned new england. i'm looking at boston.com right now and they valley have gotten walloped up there. >> all right. rick, thank you very much for the live report. he'll be with us all morning. >> fox news alert for you now because you're looking at a truck that is nearly submerged in water in franklin township, new jersey and there are reports that the driver is still inside. hard to see what's going on in the cab there. rescue crews are on the way.

that's all we know at the moment. this is developing and we'll keep an eye on this as we get more information. >> i wonder if he possibly could move that thing. the tailpipes are up at the top. it's not like they're underwater. >> you've done so much works with engines, allison, pick it up from here. >> i'm hoping he could climb out the window. >> that's what i'm thinking. we head over to kelly wright in washington with the latest on the president's response to irene. he was saying this isn't over. >> no, it clearly is not over. and this is something that the president had been watching for sometime now and president obama said fema had begun working with state and local authorities even before hurricane irene made landfall and in the aftermath of this storm, fema continues to work now and helping with the response and recovery efforts. hurricane irene may be over but the storm left its mark on many areas from puerto rico to vermont as we've been seeing all throughout new england and vermont and new jersey, not residents are being warned to

stay away from low lying areas where swollen rivers and creeks are causing flash floods and major flooding in those areas. irene also created the mudslides in puerto rico. let's take a look at these pictures right now of how the mudslides claimed homes in the municipality. all this caused by hurricane irene. fema is working very closely with the area to rebuild the community to be better and stronger than before and prior to the storm, president obama gave a forecast. this hurricane would be difficult to overcome but said fema would be ready to help. on sunday, he said there is still a lot of work to be done. >> i do want to underscore that the impacts of this storm will be felt for sometime and the recovery effort will last weeks or longer. >> it will take weeks to clean up the damage at least and months to rebuild. for cleanup, this is going on right now, then the rebuilding efforts will take place and all of this coming at an enormous price tag of some $7 million to

these communities and who knows what the cost might be to individuals. and the federal government as well, in particular is not exactly swimming in cash. here's craig fugate. >> we are working very closely, looking at the numbers of what it's going to take depending on the damage that we get through irene, what it will take for the rest of this year but also for the impacts of irene on next year. >> you may recall when fema had a very tarnished image from the way it handled hurricane katrina in 2005, there's a marked change this time around. >> so far so good. as i was saying last hour, the longer the lights stay off and if the cleanup takes a while, this thing could boomerang quick and i think he knows that. >> residents of rhode island waking up without some electricity to what is being called a catastrophic power outage this morning. adam housley is in newport,

rhode island with the latest. >> good morning. that's right. power is still out for thousands upon thousands across rhode island and for that matter, across the northeast. you're talking about places like connecticut, massachusetts and rhode island. all three states. vermont as well with significant power outages. while this area got battered by wind and high surf, areas inland like western massachusetts and vermont, parts of connecticut got drenched with rain, significant flooding, mudslides in some places. problems that continue. as the sun comes up here this morning, the idea is to get some of the roadways cleared of downed branches and trees and try to get the power back on. we're told at least in this area at the earliest, it will be midday before there's any power restored. other parts of the northeast and other parts of new england, it may be several days before power is back on. that will be a hit in the pocketbook, not just to recover from the cleanup and some of the damage that was done but also the weekends that we're still left in the summertime with people coming here as tourists. a lot of restaurants saying they lost all of their food because the power is out. they won't be able to serve

anybody. back to you guys. >> all right. adam housley live in newport, rhode island where they're waiting for the electric guy to turn on the lights. >> that father had that son high up in the air. >> thank goodness he had a hold of him. meanwhile, more news to tell you. park rangers are still scouring yellowstone national park this morning for a grizzly bear they believed killed a hiker over the weekend. they found bear tracks near the man's body. an autopsy is now planned to determine whether the animal actually attacked him or just disturbed his body. >> meanwhile, the search for missing indiana university student lauren spierer kicking into high gear as the school year starts there. her parents have returned to indiana from their home in new york vowing to stay until they find their daughter. they're hanging posters as part of a renewed effort to find out what happened to the 20-year-old coed who disappeared on june 3rd while walking home after a night

out. >> the 6-year-old texas boy facing an in school suspension for having his hair too long. they say he violated school policy that requires students to have their hair neat. but the plot thickens. his mom plans to fight the suspension. why might that be? he is growing his hair for locks of love. it would go for kids with cancer. >> surely this pool didn't know that. >> i don't know. we're going to find out. >> we're telling the school this morning. meanwhile, good news, beyonce or as my husband calls her, beyonce and her baby bump stole the show at mtv's video music awards. the superstar announcing she's pregnant! and cradling her belly on the red carpet telling reporters i have a surprise! au >> i want you to feel the love that's growing inside of me! >> after performing her new hit "love on top." beyonce opened her jacket and proudly rubbed her baby bump.

her husband jay-z celebrating in the audience as you'll see momentarily. with p. diddy. it's their first child. >> clags. >> yeah. >> that's kind of -- >> meanwhile, katie perry took home top owners winning video of the year for firework. she accepted her trophy wearing pink hair and a cube in her hair. >> many things are new cubist. no explanation given. >> i think we -- >> didn't need it with that show. >> she didn't win wearing a cube on her head to get attention. you already won, you have the trophy and have pink hair, do you need the cube? i think this outfit is missing something. do you have the rubik's cube. >> think about this, when lady gaga arrived in the last big show in an egg, everybody showed it this morning. this morning, we showed beyonce and her baby bump plus the cube. maybe it was brilliant imagery because she got air play today.

>> you are a katy perry apologyist. >> it's branded. russell branded. >> back to the top story, of course. that is irene's economic fallout can states afford to pay for all the damage they're seeing today? how much will the federal government have to chip in? stuart varney is standing by. >> more moms having babies during this monster hurricane. one of those new moms is here. i'm really glad we took this last minute trip! you booked our room right? not yet, thanks for reminding me. wait, what?

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eric cantor said look, this is going to cost money so let's cut somewhere else in the budget to come up with the $2 billion. >> there's the dollar amount of the damage and who pays for it? is it the individual? is it the insurance companies? is it the states or the feds? that's the damage issue. we don't know how much it's going to cost yet. the other issue is how much economic disruption up and down the eastern seaboard did this cause? answer, extensive and second, will that affect the economy which is already just about stalled? is it bad enough to push it into recession? that's the argument of the day. how bad was it in terms of disruption? how many flights canceled? how many vacations canceled? how many billions of dollars not spent in the stores? how many restaurant meals not eaten. how much disruption to the economy? is it enough to push us over the brink into recession? that's what everybody is asking. >> that's such a good point where you talk about how when you look at this, a lot of this happened coastal carolinas up through the northeast and this is the next to the last weekend of the big summer and how many

hotel rooms and motel rooms and condos were absolutely sitting vacant. >> it's also a huge population center, as we all know. so you've got tens of millions of people affected. and that is the issue. how bad was the disruption? will it push us over that edge? >> how bad it was? >> we don't know yet, do we? we don't know the dollar value of the damage. that's issue one but we don't know how extensive -- how long this disruption will last. >> no stats available on this. if anyone went to home depot, ace hardware, lowes, they know, out of batteries, out of flashlights, out of generators. out of boards. plywood. whatever we have. there is some part of the economy that was really flourishing. >> yes, if you're a roofer and you have a chain saw and know how to chop up downed trees, if you're an electrician and you're a plumber, you're probably going to get some extra business. there is some balance to the disruption to the economy. i have a feeling, though, this will slow us down just a little

bit. whether it's enough to push us over the edge, that's another story. that's going to slow us down. >> that means the president will be using it as an excuse. >> is that what you think? >> maybe, i'm cynical and i've been sitting next to you too long. what are you going to be talking about on your show? >> is it enough disruption to push us over the edge? but we'll get a relief rally on the stock market this morning. >> i see that with the futures. we'll be watching. >> thanks. >> stuart sit there while i read this. coming up, brand new video of the devastation as the aftermath of hurricane irene floods states all across the northeast. >> but the storm brought more than just a surge in rain, it brought a surge in birth. one of those new moms sits down with us and in fact, she's sitting down right now with the baby. their story is coming up. good morning. where do you go to find a business backed by

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>> we have a little breaking news to tell you about right now. we want to show you the latest video of this house on fire. this is in new jersey and what's interesting is, of course, you can see the house is surrounded by water as results of hurricane irene. there you see rescue workers, obviously, trying to make it to the house. no word on who is inside but my good not, what a herculean task it is to put this house fire out when no vehicles can get to the house because of all of this flooding following irene. we will bring you all the developments in this story as we get them. meanwhile, as hurricane irene pounded the east coast this weekend, the staff at wilmington, north carolina hospital was kept busy thanks to a mini baby boom there. apparently the drop in

barometric pressure during a hurricane is trigger early labor. she welcomed baby parker elizabeth on friday and joins us with her incredible story. hey, andy. >> good morning. >> you guys look like you're doing great but what a weekend you've had. i understand you thought it was an old wive's tale that hurricanes induce labor and then what happened friday night? >> well, we had parker elizabeth friday night. totally unexpected. i just really didn't think it would happen. >> when was your due date? >> my due date was actually monday, the 29th. >> so you were just a few days early. but when you realized that you were going into labor as the hurricane was bearing down, what happened? because we understand you delivered at the height of the storm. what was it like? >> i did.

it was -- well, everything about the storm and the labor and delivery was so fast and furious. you know, we could hear the wind outside and, you know, we were staying at a hotel about two blocks away from the hospital and, you know, getting -- my husband came to pick me up in the truck and the wind was really picking up and it was raining sideways and it was kind of crazy. >> i bet. it must have been so intense once you were in the delivery room. was it scary? >> no, it wasn't scary. i felt safe in the hospital. it feels like that might have been the safest place for us to be. but labor and delivery is crazy. >> you didn't need anymore intensity. the hospital spokeswoman says they normally have 10 births in every 24 hours but this weekend, they had 17 births in just 18

hours. they say because of the hurricane. we understand that your little baby was 7 pounds, 12 ounces. you named her parker. did you consider calling her irene? >> no, never! i never thought -- never once that i wanted to name her after a storm that's caused so much destruction across the east coast. >> yes. we -- >> not a good memory. >> we understand. well, she looks great and so do you. good luck. thanks so much for joining us with your hurricane birth story. that's incredible. >> thank you. >> ok. >> thanks. >> meanwhile, coming up next, grading the response. did the leaders of our country do enough to prepare for hurricane irene? former white house press secretary dana perino is going to weigh in on this. how did he do it?

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three out of four americans don't get enough vegetables. so here's five bucks to help you buy v8 juice. five bucks. that's a lot of green. go to v8juice.com for coupons. you can count on us. >> good morning, everyone. it's monday, august 29th. i'm in for gretchen this morning. more damage from the aftermath of of hurricane irene. here's live images of a house on fire in compton lakes, new jersey. this as the death toll reaches 24 people. >> politicians across the east coast push into high gear in preparation and in response to hurricane irene? how did they do? former white house secretary dana perino is here live to grade them. >> colin powell goes after his former colleague dick cheney. >> i think it's a bit too far. i think dick overshot the runway with that kind of comment if

that is how he plans to sell his book. >> what did the former vice president say that got colin powell so upset? we'll tell you about that and so much more. we're watching "fox and friends." good morning, folks, it's monday. >> good morning, folks. gretchen is coming back later this week and we got ali in the center square today with a lot of news. >> happy to be with you guys. breaking news right now, fox news alert. this is a flooded home that's on fire right now and it is right in the middle of a flooded neighborhood, as you can see, all of the water surrounding this house on fire. this is an area that was left heavily flooded by hurricane irene. rescue crews are doing their best and they're doing everything they can. they're using ropes to access the fire but, of course, the high waters are making it very tough for them to work or get

their emergency vehicles there. no word of what caused this fire or if anyone is inside the home at this moment. >> that would be about 25 miles to the west of new york city and it's got to be frustrating that there's water in the neighborhood but they don't have a pump to take the water from the neighborhood to put it on the fire. >> i mean, look at how flooded this neighborhood is and the idea that there's a fire in the middle of it, obviously, is just beyond ironic. >> i also think it's kind of a little disturbing there's no fire trucks around. >> they can't get there. >> the streets are submerged. it's not safe. how deep is that water? if you can see a car, you can get a fire truck in there. >> i don't know, we were watching some of the rescue workers waist deep with their ropes going towards it. we'll keep an eye on this for you throughout the morning and let you know what happens. the threat of irene is having a catastrophic effect all across the northeast. take a look at these raging waters out of vermont as the road is completely flooded. the state is seeing some of the worst flooding ever in the capital of montpilar, officials

are urging hundreds of residents to leave their homes. that's because they might have to flood the city on purpose in order to save a nearby dam that's overflowing. they hope the rain lets up and that disaster plan does not have to be activated. >> all right. let's take you to some of the very latest numbers we know so far from irene. keep in mind, these are early but the death toll rising in the last hour. fox news confirming that 24 people have lost their lives because of irene. the latest fatalities, an elderly woman in delaware and two men in new york. one was apparently surfing in yesterday's rough tide. debris falling. tree limbs and what not and floodwaters the cause of most of the deaths from the mid atlantic on north. many people left stranded from their homes as rescue crews tried bringing them to safety. no word of how many injuries as a result of irene. >> this comes as much of the northeast is still without power. people on the couch included. at least six million from south carolina to maine are living with the lights off.

that includes about half of the state of rhode island. in new york, several hospitals without electricity. crews working to re-establish power but it's going to be a while. meantime, state leaders are starting to tour the damage left by irene. you have governors chris christie of new jersey, tom corbin of pennsylvania taking their up-close looks. we saw cuomo, too, taking pictures. that across the east. it's going to cost about $7 billion. that's all we know right now. and we will keep an eye on this story as well as everything else. >> all right, let's go to long beach, long island and that's where the scene yesterday was obviously incredible. the water from the atlantic ocean coming up to the boardwalk and going right under it, into the parking lot. stranding cars. right into the streets and, of course, people's basements. what does it look like today? let's go live to our chief meteorologist, rick reicmuth. what's happening today, rick?

>> so we saw the water hitting the boardwalk and coming across the parking lot flooding the hol hotel behind it. this should be an access road and it's now not passable, certainly by a car. this is the deck platform that was attached to the lifeguard station that got blown apart or moved across the beach so a huge mess out here across these beaches. you look at the ocean and it looks like it's back to normal but there's certainly a lot of damage left behind that's going to take them a while to clear out and figure this out. across long beach and across a lot of areas, a lot of fire island which is another one of these barrier islands up way hasn't even been able to be explored yet. it's only accessible by ferry. ferries haven't been running. today, they'll get out there and try to assess the damage across some of the areas of long

island, just farther out of the island. alisyn? >> tell us what's happening not on the coastline but like in vermont. >> yeah, i'll tell you, that's such a big story. the coast, obviously, hit initially by the hurricane. and then the water continues to fall, the rain continues to fall, into interior sections. vermont, you can get these overhead shots of a strip mall. delivery trucks that are submerged underwater. streets completely underwater and you can see there's a creek off the way and that's a creek that overflowed its banks and has left all the water in the area. so that's just vermont, pictures streaming in now from so many different towns in that state that are dealing with this. and at this point, it sounds like there's still 50,000 customers that are without power in the state of vermont. >> wow. and we understand there's 700,000 without power in the state of massachusetts.

rick along the boardwalk. we thank you very much. meanwhile, take a look at this incredible video out of new jersey where a driver reportedly was trapped inside that partially submerged semitaylor truck. da -- semitrailer truck. i wondered if it could get out because the tailpipes are above the water line. i got an e-mail from a lot of people of trucks like that, what does matter is the placement of the air intake. >> someone that knew that is dana perino, she took engine mechanics in high school. >> former long distance trucker. >> absolutely. i know you know a lot about leadership in times of a natural catastrophes. how do you think our leaders have done? you look at governor christie and president obama. let's start in new york. >> i think that everybody has

performed well. and if you -- what everybody is doing, of course, without saying it every time is comparing this hurricane and president obama's response to that of hurricane katrina during president bush. i can understand that and i think a lot of local and state officials learned a lot after katrina but in some ways, those storms are apples and oranges. category 3, i think, by the time it hit new orleans and the local and state leadership is quite different. you saw immediately strong calls for evacuations and chris christie, governor christie in new jersey got in people's face so they understood the dangers of this storm. >> in his style, he used some, perhaps, coarse language but got the point across. governor cuomo of new york has been tweeting out information and keeping people posted. >> well, yeah, and i think more information is always good. what bothers me a little bit is the p.r. people for a lot of these governors.

let me give you an example in north carolina. before the storm even came ashore in north carolina, her p.r. people were putting out word that she was juggling multiple cell phones. she had frantic conversations with people on the ground and frantic is just not what we want. it's not the image that they should project for their governor. the governor did fine. they don't need to put all these bells and whistles on it. you don't expect her to be a hurricane expert. you want her to manage and lead which she's done. >> sure and one of the things that chris christie said a couple of days ago trying to get people off. he said get off the beach, you're tan enough. >> he was talking to snooki. >> there you see governor christie right there. let's talk about ron paul. he is running for president of the united states and he's getting a little attention from the fact that he says we don't need fema. what do you think about that? >> well, i appreciate that ron paul has strong convictions and he's running for president but

it seems he's also a little discordent. on "american idol" the judges tell the contestants they're a little pitchy. on the morning after a major disaster with millions of people out of power, 24 people now lost their lives, fema is doing what it should do which is coordinate on a federal level while the state and local responders should be the first ones because they know where people live, they know the dangers. i understand his point that we need to shift back to the original way it was set up. state and local would be more in the lead and fema just a back stop but i don't think that you can say to an entire east coast if you're running for president, you don't think that the -- that fema should exist. i think that's a little off. >> but, you know, there's some of those policies. that's why people love them and that's why other people don't take them serious. dick cheney has a book out and we're going to talk to him on wednesday. here's what colin powell said in response. >> taking the same shots that condy with an almost condescending tone, she tearfully did this or that and

he's taking the same shots that george tenet and he's also in some ways indicated he didn't always approve of what president obama was deciding and there's nothing wrong with saying he disagreed but it's not necessary to take these kinds of barbs and try to pump a book up by saying heads will be exploding. i think it's a bit too far. i think dick overshot the runway with that kind of comment and if that how he plans to sell his book, it was clear by 2004, that the team is not functioning as a team. and we had different views, and not views to be reconciled so i said to the president that it was -- i would be leaving at the end of the year after the election and he ought to take a look at his whole team. >> dana, what do you think about that? >> a couple of things. the book doesn't even go on sale until tuesday so i think admittedly most people who are commenting on the book at this

point haven't read it yet. i look forward to buying it and reading it because i've always admired and a deep respect for dick cheney and having watched him in that leadership role. i also don't think that without reading it in context that any shots that he takes are cheap. dick cheney has been america's pinata for several years. now, this is his point of view. it's his recollection and you might disagree with it but i don't necessarily think that it's a cheap shot. >> one thing he did say in the portion that i read and i'll just paraphrase, that he took shots at colin powell who talked to friends in the media and expresses discontent with some of president bush's policies and that's what bothered him. >> well, and that's -- and if that's in the book, that's the vice president's point of view and colin powell has had his chance, secretary rice will have her chance and lots of things happen in an administration and five years from now, we'll be talking about the first term of the obama administration as people in that administration write their books. i would just also take a step

back and while people are focused on the bush years during cheney's time and his book is called "in my time" what i have heard is that the book is quite broader than that. and that his anecdotes from the nixon, ford and reagan years are really good and touching. >> all right. we look forward to it and we'll have the former vice president on the program on wednesday. we always have dana on mondays. real pleasure. >> thanks. >> see you on "the five" today. >> ok. >> irene's new threat. the inland states where rain water is flooding rivers and low lying lands worse than anyone had expected, frankly, and next, a member of the army corps of engineers leading the relief effort. >> then a little boy suspended because his hair was too long and he was growing it for a charity. locks of love. should the school really get a say in how long his hair is? we're going to report, you're going to decide. >> are you calling the school?

>> quick headlines now.

the lockerbie bomber was released in prison in 2009, you know that, and reportedly was near death from cancer. his brother says he's now in a coma at his home in tripoli and cannot speak. hence, coma. the family also says there's no doctor available since the rebels took over tripoli. there have been calls for him to return to scotland. they will not extradite a libyan citizen to the west. president obama will reportedly nominate a new chairman of the council of economic advisors. he's that man from princeton university, labor economist alan krueger and he served as assistant secretary treasury for economic policy for the first two years of the president's administration. his nomination is expected to be confirmed by the senate. steve? >> thank you, brian. hurricane irene may have passed but much of the east coast and portions of new england still underwater this morning and as the president said yesterday, americans are still at risk. >> so i want people to understand that this is not over.

response and recovery efforts will be an ongoing operation and i urge americans in affected areas to continue to listen for the guidance and direction of their state and local officials. >> what should people in trouble do? here to weigh in is the north atlantic division commander of the army corps of engineer, the brigadier general peter deluca. tell us what your biggest challenges are. >> biggest concerns is assessing where the debris is to make sure the lines of communication are open so everybody can start the recovery and respond to what's happened. we clearly are interested in infrastructure assessments and we're getting lots of requests now from the states to look at some of their water management infrastructure and see how they're performing during this event which is still occurring. >> it is still occurring and a number of rivers still have not crested throughout the northeast and that come a day or -- some today, some tomorrow, some the day after that. but we've had a story this morning, general, about how

there are a number of areas in the new england states where they may have to open the dams which could effectively flood the towns because why? >> well, there's a tremendous amount of water that was deposited by irene in a rapid period of time in new england where the soil is already saturated so the soil wasn't absorbing it. we have 31 dams of our own in the army corps of engineers in that region. we lowered the pools so we could suck up some of that water. they are not quite full but they are filling. some of the private dams run by states and municipalities are full and they'll have to be released. >> you look at the damage that was prevented. how do you think the officials did and how do you think people did in terms of evacuating and what could have been? >> we're pretty proud of our role which was part of a team. we are part of a federal team led by fema that supports state and local leaders that remain in charge and their first responders, obviously, bear the

brunt of the response to the event. a lot of hurricane modeling that we did in associate with noaa and the national hurricane service that provided the track, not only just the track but the water surge and the rainfall. we're proud of that. we do a lot of hurricane evacuation research and modeling in conjunction with the department of homeland security and fema and those, we're used to inform a lot of the decisions that state leaders made that were sound and prudent. >> absolutely. thanks to your group, the corps, everybody knew what was coming and what the risks were and we appreciate the busy day you've got today. brigadier general, we thank you. >> thanks for having me. >> thank you. >> up next, how safe are our skies? a tsa agent admits she helped criminals slip through security at one of america's busiest airports. >> oh, man. how in the world did rick perry

jump to the top of the polls? can he stay there? scott rasmussen is going to join us next.

>> texas governor rick perry hasn't even been in the race for a month and he's already leapfrogged the other g.o.p. candidates in the polls. why is he so popular? joining us is the president of rasmussen reports, scott rasmussen. scott, perry is off to a sterling start. >> right. nice to have come out on top. they were looking for somebody who would be challenging to the republican leadership in washington. now, republican voters are very angry at president obama but they're also not thrilled with the d.c. elite. >> just a sense that the people are looking at a jobs record and they wonder can he do that for the country? >> you know. that is a question, he's going

to have to answer that and deal with that as time goes on but right now, he is a new candidate. fred thompson came in on top and his campaign fizzled. governor perry, i think, wants it a little more. it's important to remember that four years ago, john mccain never led the pack until december 31st and he ended up being the nominee. >> all right. let's take a look at a couple of polls they had to do against president obama because the polls are starting to come out now and a lot of times sitting presidents take a beating because they're making the decisions. if it was today, president obama 43 and rick perry 40. >> pretty much of a tossup. the number that concerns the white house is the president in every poll is in the mid to low 40% range. if he doesn't change his job approval, he'll be struggling in 2012. >> against romney we saw in florida, romney wins big. if you don't win florida, arguably you're not going to win. >> the president is struggling

in florida because of the health care law, very unpopular among right now and your numrs will look like michelle bachmann's or anybody else. >> you asked a question who would you vote for? michelle backhann is up there and rick perry with 29%. >> rick perry, again, came in, he's a governor so it's unlike michelle bachmann. she captured a lot of enthusiasm but doesn't have the governing experience. >> should mitt romney change his strategy now that rick perry is in doing well? >> no, mitt romney has to wait and see what perry does in the next couple of months. running for president is unique. the campaign started out great. staying on top is tougher than starting out on top. >> i'm happy to talk about something other than irene

today. >> aren't we all? >> meanwhile, coming up in 20 minutes, g.o.p. candidate john huntsman will be joining us. find out what he plans to do to rock it up the charts. yes, that's me. and north carolina took the first major hit from hurricane irene and could cost the country millions to repair. north carolina's governor bev purdue live will be joining us and should this little boy be suspended because his hair got too long? a school wants to suspend him for his charitable effort unless we can do something. [ female announcer ] so you think your kids are getting enough vegetables? maybe not. v8 v-fusion juice gives them a full serving of vegetables plus a full serving of fruit. but it just tastes like fruit. [ male announcer ] get five dollars in money-saving coupons at v8juice.com. i never saw myself here. i didn't. but with weight watchers, i can't see myself anywhere else. ♪ i'm feeling good

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>> shot of the morning time. take a look at this picture out of hatteras island, north carolina. this used to be a nice, smooth route 12. not anymore. as you can see, the floodwater triggered by hurricane irene swept right through the roadway, slicing it in half in several different locations. actually, slicing it more than in half, into quarters. >> if you're in that middle part, how do you get to where you're going? >> you get a ramp and you call evil kneivel. >> there you go. >> that's about the only way to get to the other side. >> that's terrible. >> also, we have more breaking news for you. fox news alert. we want to take you back to this flooded home. this is a flooded home that's on fire right now in new jersey. this is in pompton lakes, new jersey, it's an area that's been heavily flooded by hurricane irene. rescue crews are doing their best here. they're using ropes to access

this fire because, as you can see, it's hard for emergency vehicles to get close to it. it's also flooded around there. the high waters are making it close for them to work. no word of what caused the fire or if anyone is at home. >> what's sustaining it? >> we are getting words that it's a gas fed fire and nobody is home. >> given the fact that the streets are all submerged, i would imagine a lot of people probably got out early yesterday or the day before. and if they're watching these images on tv thinking that's my house. that's just awful. >> yeah. >> let's bring in the governor of north carolina right now who joins us on the phone from raleigh. governor beverly perdue, good morning to you. >> good morning y'all. how are you this morning? >> we're doing ok. i know your state took it first when irene came ashore 115-mile-per-hour winds. you were able to do a damage assessment yesterday. what did you see? >> we did. we did a great assessment and we're going out today and

probably go out tomorrow. you know, we've had deaths in north carolina which is always the hardest part but if you get to property and other kinds of damage, there's a lot of flooding across the eastern part of the state. a lot of coastal destruction and dama damage, the businesses are destroyed and some of our crops are absolutely damaged. we got two huge breaches in highway 12 so they are cut off at this time other than ferry service so access is a problem. good news for us, i guess, is that this is north carolina and we're resilient as we finish the assessment, we're already beginning to rebuild and go on and as you may have already heard, our beaches are open for business. >> what i don't understand is how you could -- is there a plan in place to fix those roads? because it's such a vital passageway and it looks severely damaged. >> it is severely damaged. this happened during isabelle in the early 2000's and it took us a couple of months to fix this.

there was only one breach then and now i flew over it yesterday. there was two that i saw and i'm told this morning there's three so it will take a while. i don't know how much. we have a whole crew of department of transportation people and engineers there as we speak and we're trying to talk to the feds about the permits we'll need. >> people don't understand how dangerous it can be after the storm. so what's your message to people this morning? >> my message to the people in the areas that still have some danger of flooding is to be very cautious about saying it's over because it may not be over all up the east coast. for those who are in counties and places that are still without power, we've got about 350,000 without power. that could very well mean hot wires and hot lines down somewhere around. be very safe when you're traveling because of that fact. >> yeah, governor, you and governors up and down the coast in anticipation of the storm did a lot of preparing people, you

know, this could be coming and could be really big. i notice there are right now on drudge, there's a story called "perfect storm of hype. politicians, the media and the hurricane irene apocalypse that never was." how do you feel about warning people ahead of time how bad it could be even though the storm didn't turn out to be as catastrophic as it could have been? >> well, if you're one of the six or seven dead people's families in north carolina, you would say it's a bad storm and if you have no home or no goods, you would say it's a bad storm. from my perspective as the governor of the state that was hit the worst, all this flooding and destruction, it may not be armageddon, but if it is your family and your state, it's serious and significant. >> one of the key things for you now as i think you would agree is to get those lights back on quickly. i mean, you can't do anything to get the water to recede. but is there a plan in place and

a plan of attack to get the power on? >> we have five major companies, both the national brands and rural co-ops in the process now. we've already gotten about 300,000 homes and businesses restored. we have folks from all over the country here helping our utilities. we are very aggressive with this and, you know, i feel very comfortable about how fast they're working. it takes time to get the hot wires up and put the transmission lines back together. >> on a personal note, i know all governors have their hands full and never a good time to take a vacation but you and your family were scheduled to go on vacation. you had rented a beachside cottage this weekend and you didn't get to do that and you think your mom might have had something to do with it. >> i think my mom was irene and she was up there fussing at me for not doing something. i don't know what i've done wrong. i think this is a direct attack. i want you to know my family is there without me and i bet they're having more fun. >> your mom's name was irene. >> that's right. >> that's right. >> you think she has a hand in

you being at work today somehow. >> she might not have liked it because i said it was a big, fat storm when we started this thing out. >> sure. >> and governor, for residents of your state who do have some damage and don't know where to turn, what's the best place to go to right now? >> we have a governors hotline up and we have a state emergency center that we've hyped before, and folks know in every county in eastern north carolina, we have, as we speak, open local emergency centers, the feds are on the ground as we finish the assessment this week, we hope by next week to be -- if we can meet the thresholds and that's a danger, you know, there's a federal threshold for that partnership, we begin the rebuilding process with help from federal money. >> we've been talking about federal money, local money, where are you going to get the money to pay for this? >> this is something we've experienced before in north carolina. we have a rainy day fund for things like this to do our best. at the end of the day, regardless, we've always fallen back even after floyd which was a $2 billion.

>> you did a great job preparing people for the storm there in north carolina. and it's good that you were there to help pick up the pieces today. governor perdue, thank you very much. we know you have a busy day. thank for dropping by. >> thank you so much. have a good one. bye-bye. >> let's get to the rest of the headlines. we have more news. park rangers are scouring yellowstone national park for a grizzly bear they believe killed a hiker over the weekend. police say they found bear tracks near the man's body. autopsy is planned to determine whether the animal attacked him or disturbed his body. >> it was a move -- it was moving day for dsk, dominique strauss-khan, movers cleared out his $4 million townhouse in washington, d.c. the former head of the imf is scheduled to move back to france now that he's cleared of sex charges brought by a hotel maid in new york. >> she was supposed to protect the flying public. now a former tsa agent has admitted to being part of a drug ring.

prosecutors say she let drug dealers go through security numerous times at the buffalo airport in order to make drug runs. walker pleaded guilty to fraud. the accused drug dealer has pleaded not guilty. >> and this 6-year-old texas boy is now facing in school suspension for having his hair too long. school administrators in san antonio say he violated school policy that requires students to have their hair neat, clean and well groomed. but his mom says she plans to dispute this suspension and make sure her son has the right to express himself because garrett is growing his hair for locks of love and that is for kids with cancer. now, you know you have to grow your hair really long. >> my daughter mary did it and, in fact, got it cut off here on the program. she had longer hair and is there a double standard if a boy has hair long like that, does the school have a right and maybe it's in their -- in their

student handbook that you can only have hair at a certain length. i don't know. >> it is. but maybe they can make an exception for something so charitable. >> we would think. >> all right. tell us what you think. twitter.com/fox and friends or write us, friends at foxnews.com. >> meet a civil servant doing his part, giving back his $800,000 salary. >> it's amazing. believes in global warming and civil unions leading many to say john huntsman sounds too much like a democrat to beat president obama has a republican. is that true? we'll talk more about that. >> born on this date in 1986, this actress/singer made her broadway debut at age 8 before landing a role on a hit tv show. who is she?

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wow. that was fast. this is the check i've been waiting for. mom had a guaranteed acceptance life insurance policy through the colonial penn program, and this will really help with the cost of her final expenses. they have been so helpful and supportive during this time. maybe i should give them a call. i really could use some more life insurance. is it affordable? it costs less t that's pretty affordable, huh? less than 35 cents a day? that's less than the cost of a postage stamp. so, you said it was guaranteed acceptance? yes. it's permanent coverage with guaranteed acceptance for people ages 50 to 85. there's no medical exam or health questions. you can't be turned down because of your health. it fit right into mom's budget and gave her added peace of mind. you should give them a call or look them up online at cpdirect.com. i definitely could use more coverage. i think i will give them a call. man: are you between the ages of 50 and 85? or know someone who is?

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venezuelan president hugo chavez has collected into thecked into for his third round of chemotherapy. he's getting treatment in venezuela instead of cuba. take a look at this balancing act. the 85 foot boat in washington and north carolina somehow balancing on a tiny dock. the vessel named belle broke loose in hurricane irene. when the waters receded, they found belle balancing on a four foot dock. no word of how they're going to get her down, almost like noah's ark. >> as you know, california's economy is in the tank. but they still have bills to pay and one of their biggest costs is education. so in an effort to put his students above himself, one superintendent is taking a $200,000 a year pay cut next year and for several years, i believe, he is using this selfless act to help. >> fresno county california's

schools superintendent larry powell joins us live from california. good morning to you. >> good morning, steve. how are you? >> doing ok. wondering what you're thinking. your salary is going to go as superintendent, you're entitled to $250,000 but you're scaling it back to $31,000 a year over three years. what, $600,000, $700,000, why are you doing it? >> we have such crazy circumstance of money here in california so my wife and i were talking. we wanted to come up with a way to help the schools system and we're not being heard. i want folks to clearly understand. i have my retirement so i'm basically donating time. so for the next three years, four months, i'll be donating time. i also wanted to share with you the response that be so tremendous across the country, i think people are looking for something unique that some of the elected officials do something a little different. we've also decided to take the $31,000 and donate it to a

charity and challenge others out there to look at doing the same thing. we've got to get our america back on track and that means we are a nation of giveers. we've done that for years. if we can do that during these tough times, we'll be very successful and we'll be able to compete globally and do all the things we need to do. >> larry, it's so inspirational to hear you say all that and it's refreshing as well. we don't have to remind you of the scandals recently where the city manager was raking in a million bucks a year. >> bell was one of those things that i think was a wake-up call for all of us and i hated having that happen because it does undermine trust and public officials and my board, by the way, had to have a lot of courage because as an elected official, i resigned and then they had to rehire me. and so it was courage on their part to be willing to do something out of the ordinary. but at the end of the day, $830,000 over the course of three years and also the

taxpayers saves $115,000 during that time and in the lifetime of this, as long as i live. it's $28,000 less a year in retirement money for the rest of my life. so that can be a substantial savings to the taxpayer as well but it's the right thing to do. >> sure. well, larry, you're lucky because you're set financially, but i know you want -- you would like your example to be a lesson to others and, perhaps, inspire others to say, you know what? i'm doing ok. i don't need the money. >> you know, those of us with resources, we need to say how much is enough? and we need to stop just accumulating funds and so i'm encouraging other elected officials and other folks that are in a really good financial position, you know, step up and let's donate some money. let's do something to help folks out during these tough times. america is going to get through it but boy, it sure buoys the spirit.

we didn't even issue a press release when this happened. it was just common sense. my wife and i decided this is a smart thing to do. we're in good shape and we're looking forward to other people doing the same thing. maybe it will start something really positive. >> that's so great. thanks so much for coming in and setting an example. steve just told me that he's going to be giving away his salary to brian and me. oh, mine! sorry, i misunderstood. >> nice talking to you folks. >> we appreciate the inspiration. >> troublemaker. >> he said he'd be ok being a vice president but he's still running for the top office. is that enough conviction to win over voters? we'll ask g.o.p. presidential candidate john huntsman that next. >> first on this date in 1958, the u.s. air force academy opened in colorado springs, colorado. on this day in 2005, hurricane katrina made landfall. wow. and the number one song back in 1998, on this day, i'm all right. [ male announcer ] heard this one?

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and this is to remind you that you could save hundreds! yeah, that'll certainly stick with me. we'll take it. go, big money! i mean, go. it's your break, honey. same coverage, more savings. now, that's progressive. call or click today. >> the answer to the question of the day is lea michelle. >> of course. >> the winner is daisy from tulsa, oklahoma. a "glee" fan no doubt. >> let's sing about it. 8 minutes before the top of the hour. even though governor rick perry is surging in the polls, g.o.p. candidate john huntsman is not backing down. this week, he has two big announcements. >> here to tell us what they are is former utah governor and 2012 g.o.p. presidential candidate john huntsman. great to see you. >> greetings from south carolina. how is everybody there? >> great. >> we're doing well. we have survived irene.

tell us what your big announcements are this week. >> well, alan wilson who is the great conservative attorney general here in south carolina, a terrific young leader, will be coming out to announce his support today. the first constitutional officer in this terrific state to announce public support for a presidential candidate, i like our chances in south carolina. this is just the beginning, i believe we're going to do extremely well in south carolina. we're developing a great organization here on the ground and then we're going to go up to new hampshire on wednesday and we're going to talk about the most important issues this country faces today. and that is creating jobs and expanding our economic base. consistent with how we did as governor of the state of utah. i believe that the american people are hungry to get somebody who has been in the private sector, who understands the fragility and the magic of the free market system, someone who has been a chief executive who understands how you create a competitive environment for private sector then to fill in with jobs.

>> that's coming up. go ahead, i'm sorry. >> that will be in new hampshire. and then three, someone who has been in the world and knows something about the international environment, this is a dangerous, murky situation and i believe those are the three things that the american people are going to be looking for in their next president. >> let's start with number two. number two is you're going to talk jobs. you're going to beat president obama to the punch. you're going to beat mitt romney to the punch. what can you tell us will be different? something we haven't seen out there. give us a little taste of what you're going to announce. >> well, this is going to be consistent with what i did as governor of the state of utah. you have to phase out reductions and corporate welfare and you have to lower the rate and broaden the base. we fundamentally must have a more competitive 21st century tax code. you cannot attract brain power and cannot add aggregate capital with today's tax code. that's number one. number two, we've got to get the regulatory monkey off our back. we've got to have regulatory reform in this country and we're going to spell out exactly what

needs to be done in that regard. number three, we've got to move toward energy independence. we've got a heroin like addiction as it relates to 60% imported oil. we can do it a whole lot better with respect to the resources that we have here in our own backyard, cheaper, accessible. better for the air and they carry very important national security implications. >> and governor -- >> we're going to roll out these issues that i think are the most important issues of our time. this country has hit the wall economically and we've got to recognize this cancer called debt growing in our country but aside from that, we've got to grow out of the hole we're in and the only way we're going to do that is by turning to people who, as governor in the private sector knows something about job creation. >> sure and governor, i also want to get you to address something that your critics say may not play well enough with the conservatives in your party. that you've taken some stances that may not appeal to them. you recently tweeted this. you said to be clear, i believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming,

call me crazy. >> right. well, i believe in evolution. i think it's part of god's plan. i've always said and it's on the record and by the way, i'm running on my record, climate change has an established body of science associated with it. that's all i'm going to say. >> lot of corruption surrounding it that has a lot of eyebrows up. we'll look at that real quick. >> beyond that, let's get serious about the issues of the day. these issues are about -- auto scientists are getting serious -- >> everything is about creating jobs. everything is a side joke. >> real quick, you would be michelle bachmann's running mate but not rick perry or mitt romney's? >> it was in response to a hypothetical question about my commitment to service. i've served president reagan, i've served president bush, i've been elected as governor and an ambassador three times. you love your country, you serve her and all i was saying to a hypothetical question is i would serve my country when asked. >> all right. former governor john huntsman, presidential candidate, thanks

so much for joining us. >> thank you for having me. i appreciate it. >> and former ambassador to china. irene's floodwaters hitting close to home. that's my house. >> that's really close to home. >> that's really close and that's the water. and as quick as it came, where did it go? we'll find out. >> and they swore to protect our country. we'll tell you more about how they are helping today protect against the harsh conditions. >> nothing stops them. dad, why are you getting that? is there a prize in there? oh, there's a prize, all right. [ male announcer ] inside every box of cheerios are those great-tting little o's made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholester. is it a superhero? kinda. ♪

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i never saw myself here. i didn't. but with weight watchers, i can't see myself anywhere else. ♪ i'm feeling good you can be here too. go on join for free. weight watchers pointsplus. because it works. >> alisyn: good morning, everyone. it's monday, august 29. i'm alisyn camerota in for gretchen. billions of dollars in damage and even more deaths being reported as hurricane irene strikes inland. >> steve: speaking of the air, airlines will be busy today untangling a big mess of their own that got all screwed up over the weekend. thousands of travelers stranded

with nothing to do but wait. will they take off today? will it be tomorrow or wednesday? stand by, folks. >> brian: hurricane irene brought more than just a surge and rain. brought a surge in births. meet one of the new moms and her newborn son just learning about cable tv. "fox & friends" starts right now. >> alisyn: the northeast is obviously still struggling with the aftermath of irene. you both woke up without power this morning and massive flooding. >> steve: the thing that's frustrating about no power at my house, i've got orange rockland around my house. the house next door has pse and g, everybody on that street, they've got their lights. us? we've got nothing. i shaved this morning with a flashlight like this. >> brian: my problem is we love old trees because we like to say

wow, george washington walked by this or thomas jefferson tripped over that root. because of that old trees go down big time when the winds go big. >> alisyn: with some deadly consequences. a fox news alert. we've been showing you this story all morning. this is a house on fire right now in the middle of a flooded neighborhood. this is pompton lakes, new jersey, an area left heavily flooded by hurricane irene and rescue crews are doing everything they can, but they're having a very hard time getting their emergency vehicles in there because of all the flooding. they're using ropes to access this fire. but the obvious flood waters are making it very tough for them to work. we were told it was an oil leak of some kind and no one is home. >> brian: didn't they say it was being sustained by gas? >> alisyn: you're right, which is why they see the bubbles. they say a lot of times that's gas leaking. >> steve: as well as look at the streets right there. that entire neighborhood, about

25 miles to the west of new york city, the streets are flooded. many people evacuated. not in those homes, obviously. and then to see this right there, that's heart breaking. there is one of the neighbors. they're lucky that the fire has not jumped to other homes as well. >> brian: how busy those fire and rescue people must be to not be able to get there because we've had this on for an hour. they have boats and they have trucks. >> steve: it's been going. let's talk about the total impact of hurricane irene becoming clear this morning as the sun comes up. brian, you were talking about big trees. this happens all over the area. fox news confirms that another person died, bringing the death toll to 24. the latest fatalities, an elderly woman in delaware. two men in new york, one was surfing in the rough tide. most of the others were lost through falling tree, big ones like that and debris and deep flood waters. many people still left stranded and unable to reach their homes while rescue crews are working

overtime to bring them to safety. look at this right here. this comes as much in the northeast is still without power. 6 million people are living with the lights off this morning. they're not watching us, no cable tv unless they got a generator. that includes half the state of rhode island. new york, several hospitals were left without electricity. crews are working to reestablish power, but it's going to be a while. state leaders are starting to tour the damage left behind by irene. they've got governor chris christie and tom car bet of pennsylvania -- corbett, he got an up close look at the wreckage by a helicopter. total damage across the east coast could run $7 billion, is this morning's estimate. >> alisyn: take a look at the catastrophic effect it's having further inland. these raging waters flooding bettington, vermont. the state is seeing some of the worst flooding ever. in the capitol of montpelier, officials are urging residents to leave and they might have to

flood that city on purpose in order to save a nearby dam that is overflowing. they hope the rain let's up and they don't have to do that. >> brian: if you're trying to get on a flight, here is your airport update. jfk and newark airports reopened for arrivals only. departures begin at noon. la guard guardia open to arrivals and departures. delays are still expected, in addition to the cancellations that grounded roughly 650,000 people over the weekend. according to a flight aware.com, there are typically 31,000 domestic flights on an average monday during the summer travel season. today more than 1500 flights won't even operate as planes and crew members are repositioned. >> steve: planes are in the wrong place. >> brian: nearly all of new york city's subway lines are up and running on a limited schedule. the first weather-related shut down in the city's history. that's the first for amtrak

trains. all service from boston to philadelphia canceled. your best bet? call amtrak or check the web site. >> alisyn: it was incredible to be in manhattan this weekend while this is happening because it was deserted. not entirely, but yes, and to have no public transportation. that's what this city runs on. >> steve: plus every store was closed and restaurants closed and so for the many tourists visiting this week, they could walk around, but nothing to do. now, you were busy because you had to be evacuated. >> beth: we evacuated like so many people and our area was thought to be flood worthy and it was flood worthy because there is a canal seven blocks away. marina on one side. but in the entire area, including the open bay, you saw the waves. it looked like the poe siden adventure, the waves were so big. this is from seven blocks away. the water about two or three feet. then as you wing around, the

thing that amazed me is at 9:00 a.m. it was very little. 11:00 a.m., the rain stopped for two hours and then the whole area is flooded. maybe 25 blocks. >> alisyn: there is like a delay. what did your kids think? >> brian: my kids stayed on the north side. they came back and thought i was lying. if i didn't take the video. because by the time we came back at 2:00 o'clock in the afternoon, it had almost all dissipated. >> steve: in that neighborhood, a lot of houses do not have basements, so you don't have to worry about pumping out the basement. >> brian: there is a few things going on. the people who decide to stick it out, they found out almost the whole first floor was flooded. number two, a lot of people didn't have mortgages, didn't have flood insurance because you don't have to have it if you don't have a mortgage. and because they've had big storms, bigger than this and they've had no damage, this time there has been bigger storms but this time there was more damage, more water damage. >> steve: we're glad your family is okay. >> brian: yep. >> steve: we're going to take a quick look at the headlines now

at 8 minutes after the top of the hour. >> alisyn: he was supposedly dying of cancer two years ago, you'll remember. but now the brother of the convicted lockerbie bomber says megrahi is really on his death bed this time. his family says he's in a coma and there is no doctor available since the rebels kicked out moammar gadhafi. megrahi returned to a hero's welcome in libya when scotland released him on compassionate grounds. there has been calls for him to return to scotland. but libya's rebels say they will not extradite him to the west. fox news learned president obama will nominate a new chairman of the white house council of economic advisors in front of tv cameras today. he's princeton university alan krueger. he served as assistant treasury secretary for economic policy for the first two years of the president's administration and was also chief economist at the labor department during the clinton administration. the nomination is expected to be confirmed by the senate. i can hear you, steve.

happy feet is homeward bound. they finally left a zoo. the poor penguin got sick in june and likely ate sand that he mistook for snow. you think that evolution would have cured him of that. but he will be safely released after four days at sea. thank goodness. those are your headlines. >> brian: i found out a week ago that we're running out of african penguins. we have other penguins to focus on. >> brian: i call them penguins. >> steve: let's talk a little bit about this. there is an item on the web site for the atlantic and what it talks about is: hurricane irene and the american self-centeredness, how the world sees the coverage. what it talks about is how given the fact that all the channels were covering this and you had all the governors and local

officials in all the states impacted on television all the time, that it was overdone and overblown because ultimately what happened was in the estimation of the atlantic, a bad rainstorm and it was just completely overhyped. the world doesn't care about it. >> alisyn: also they're referring to there are other stories we should have been covering this weekend, such as the salmon in africa or unrest in the middle east and that we were not giving those proper coverage. but that's not really how news works. news works -- obviously you know about those stories because we have covered those stories and it's not fair of the atlantic to say that we haven't. but news is breaking news. when something is happening, you don't know if it's going making landfall as a category 1 or how many lives will be lost or how much damage will be done. you cover it as it develops. >> brian: they compare it to the tsunami in japan and say, look at the hype. the thing is, maybe we learned from that and katrina that if you don't give people the awareness of the potential

damage that could be coming their way, they could end up dead. >> steve: we had governor perdue on and asked her about the criticism and she says she gets red hot when it comes to that and she says, do you think those people who died think it was overhyped? absolutely not. >> alisyn: greg says maybe you can refresh my memory but wasn't a it a few months ago when people watched the royal wedding in england? i think the storm has more significance. >> steve: in oklahoma, the coverage was excessive, but justified because it was affecting one out of five individuals. absolutely. 65 million americans impacted as irene came ashore. >> brian: we'll do libya, too. >> steve: when it's a big story. >> brian: meanwhile, our next guest, a republican running in one of the most democratic districts in the country, says president obama is actually helping him get elected. how does that happen? >> alisyn: this little boy's

passionate plea to a thief. give back my bike. it went viral on the internet. that thief never fessed up. donald trump heard the news and he's here to do something about it. [ female announcer ] so you think your kids are getting enough vegetables? maybe not. v8 v-fusion juice gives them a full serving of vegetables plus a full serving of fruit. but it just tastes like fruit. [ male announcer ] get five dollars in money-saving coupons at v8juice.com.

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from the rockaway. >> indeed. in a nice, orderly evacuation, we all spread out, some to shelters. most to friends and families' homes and were only gone a day and a half. >> steve: how bad was it there? >> tidal surges and flooding, heavy rains, lot of damage to people's basements, power lines. nothing horrible. >> steve: better safe than sorry in being evacuated. >> i think that was evacuated. the new yorkers were orderly and cooperative. we do well in emergencies. not so much everyday, but emergencies we do very well. >> steve: all right. let's talk a little bit about this. you are running for anthony wiener's congressional seat and you say barak obama is actually helping you get elected. what do you mean? >> well, in a way this is a referendum on many of his policies in a heavily democratic

district. so whether he likes it or not, this is a referendum on jobs, the economy, the handling of israel, and every other problem that we have. >> steve: and unlike your opponent, who you characterize as a career politician, you were a businessman for a very long time, interestingly enough, the new york daily news asked your opponent, hey, how big is the federal deficit? and he said $4 trillion, which is off about $10 trillion. >> substantial sum, i would say. but as i continually point out, the career politicians don't really care or fully understand the depth of this problem and its implications. >> steve: i think they understand that without a lot of jobs, a lot of them won't get elected or reelected. >> well, right now we're looking to just put one person out of a job. but oddly, he already has a job.

he's in the state assembly. >> steve: let me ask you about this: i know your particular district leans democrat at a margin of four to one because it's registered that way. yet you are just five or six behind? >> i think this would indicate a lot of democrats are not too happy with the current state of affairs and they're ready to come over. mayor koch helped lead the way. i was very happy to get his endorsement. later today we get mayor giuliani, formerly coming in for a photo op and we're rolling. >> steve: good enough. bob turner running for congress, 9 district in new york. we thank you for joining us live. >> thank you. >> steve: straight ahead, hurricane irene brought more than just a surge and rain, it brought another surge in births. meet one of the new moms and her newborn son and the dad coming up. then how did our nation's

biggest leaders prepare us for hurricane irene? did they overreact or not do enough? donald trump who never holds back, is here to tell us what he thinks in just a couple of minutes. as you can see, he's a close friend of brian kilmeade. at least he appears to be on tv. [ female announcer ] for frequent heartburn sufferers,

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>> brian: we want to update you on a fox news alert we've been following all morning. look at this truck in the flood waters of franklin township, new jersey. the driver stuck inside. he was, now the department says he's out of harm's way.

so a good ending. let's go to john huddy in another new jersey town slammed by the floods. hey, john, sunny day. >> yes, sunny day. but the concern, as you mentioned, is abouted flooding. what typically happens around here, brian, in new jersey and you may or may not know this, but a storm comes through like irene and two or three days later, these rivers start cresting. that's when you really see the significant flooding. we're starting to see it here on main street, which is summerset county. several hundred people had to get out last night as the river started cresting. the concern is up north, some of those northern rivers are going to start flowing and this is going to get even worse. there is already damage to some of the businesses. not only here along the rariton river, but others and the passaic river north of here, outside of manhattan, where two towns in particular, wayne and

little falls, new jersey, when that river crests, those towns go under water. earlier this spring i was literally in the river wading through some of the neighborhoods there. so this is going to get worse over the next few days. we're only seeing the beginning of the flooding here in new jersey. back to you. >> brian: that's something to keep in mind. the sun can be deceptive. thanks. let's go to alisyn. >> alisyn: hurricane irene did not only bring wind and rain, no, it also brought babies. earlier in the show, we told you about a woman who went into labor during the hurricane, but our next guest was already in labor for three days when she gave birth right at the height of the storm. joining us now is the new mom and mckevin. hi, emma. >> hi. >> alisyn: i take it that's the new bad next to you? >> yep, that's me. >> alisyn: nice to have all three of you with us. emma, i have to understand your story. you went to the hospital on tuesday thinking that it was

time. but the baby didn't come on tuesday. the baby didn't come on wednesday. the baby didn't come on thursday. you were in labor for 3 1/2 days. that's the other headline here. >> yeah. that is correct. >> alisyn: so tell us what happened when you were finally giving birth to your son at the height of the storm. what was it like in the hospital? >> oh, it was exciting. it was very busy. of course, i was in the room laboring and my husband was going out into the hallways and he was coming back and giving me updates. he said it was very busy. nurses were coming in and giving me updates about how many people were checking in. so i didn't actually see it, but i could feel all the energy going on. >> alisyn: i bet. and what was the scene in the hospital as you were going back and forth? >> i was a little tired after three days. so it's kind of fuzzy of the i was multi tasking. i had one eyeball on the heart rate monitor for larry junior

here, and the other eyeball tracking the hurricane and just following the story of it, possibly being a category 4 at one point, worst case scenario, down to it being a hurricane 1. so i had that going on and then i was emma's squeeze cushion in between contractions or during contractions. she was a real champ. she went through so much. she's very tired, but i was right behind her feeling pretty dragged out, too. it was pretty intense. >> alisyn: i bet you were. and meanwhile this spokeswoman at the hospital said there was a hurricane baby boom. normally they have ten births there at that hospital in 24 hours. between friday and saturday, 17 babies were born in 18 hours. could you tell that there was a baby boom going on that you heard? >> absolute hely. emma ended up having a c

section. so i was following the baby back to the nursey. that's when it really first dawned on me something was going on because it was bumper to bumper babies in the nursery. there was one woman -- i can't remember her name right now -- but she was the champion of the whole place. she was taking care of it. she said, i'm the only person here, but we'll take care of your baby. i felt really safe about it. they did a phenomenal job. >> alisyn: emma, were you aware that all that was happening? >> no. i was not aware because once i had my c section, they took me back to recovery and my husband would tell me stories about what was going on. my favorite story was when i went into my c section, of course, c section doesn't -- once you get in the room, it doesn't take that long for them to get the baby out. it was about 20 minutes once they brought my husband in and delivered the baby. so he was excited, went back to get his cell phone at the room that we were in and he walked in on another couple who was actually in labor. he had to haul our stuff out.

>> alisyn: that's how fast and furious these babies were coming at that hospital. congratulations to you and your beautiful baby boy. he looks very peaceful there. >> thank you. >> alisyn: thanks for sharing your story with us. >> thank you. >> alisyn: meanwhile, a natural disaster, no excuse. coming up, the soldiers sworn to protect during hurricane irene. and he's on the internet and it was watched all across the globe when it went viral. a little boy asking a thief to give back his bike. the thief never called, but donald trump did. we'll tell you his message today. ♪ it's a new, new, new, new day ♪ every day is a new day on weight watchers. i don't see why anyone would want to do anything else. pointsplus has got my back no matter what. it's a part of who i am now. ♪ yes it is

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while still using less. charmin ultra ft has extra cushions that are soft and more absorbent. so you can use four times less versus the leading value brand. ah. [ femalennouncer ] using less never felt so good. we all go... why not enjoy the go with charmin ultra soft. >> steve: your shot of the morning, the wrath of hurricane irene, no match for a sentinel guarding the tomb of the unknown soldier in arlington cemetery as the hurricane was bearing down. soldiers from the third u.s. infantry, also known as the old guard, have watched over the tomb every second of every day since april 6, 1948, regardless of the weather. these images from the old guard's facebook page. they were there three it all. -- through it all. >> alisyn: we've been showing you this incredible footage all morning of the destruction from hurricane irene on long beach, new york. the atlantic ocean met the

streets, sending the life guard headquarters smashing into the boardwalk. the area beginning to clean up and rick is there to show us what it looks like at this hour. how are they doing, rick? >> well, they're already beginning, it doesn't take much time at all and they really want to get stuff done before the next weekend, labor day, kind of the unofficial end to summer around these parts. there is your beach patrol headquarters that got knocked off of its platform and moved and banged up against the boardwalk. they were able to get in there and start to get a little bit of equipment that was inside the building out. now all of the water that we've been showing you that cut through the underpass that goes under the boardwalk and flooded some of the streets, there is about four feet of sand in there. there is the deck that was attached to the beach patrol headquarters. that's in there. now they've got the bulldozer trying to get the sand out of there. they've got a lot of work cut out for them. if you look back at this boardwalk, you can see the

restrooms right here that they boarded up before the storm came in and around four feet of sand piled up against those doors. you go a little farther over and see there is a garage door here under the boardwalk. it kind of gives you an idea of how deep this is. hyped that is where the beach patrol keeps their equipment, jet skis and life-saving implements they might need. they have a lot of work cut out for them. but they're up to the challenge and a lot of onlookers waiting to see when they can get all this big task done. guys? >> steve: all right. rick, long beach in new york, thank you very much. meanwhile, irene is gone, but the dangers are far from over. moments ago, fema director tweeted, quote, good-bye, irene. now we have tropical depression number 12 in the far atlantic. tropical storm jose, and only 93 days 'til the end of hurricane season. >> alisyn: oh, man. >> brian: kelly wright live at the white house with that tweet and more. >> this was a tough time for anyone in harm's way when it

comes to hurricane season. we've got 93 days. the president is basically stating that he's very proud of the fact that fema was prepared and now in the aftermath of irene, he's stating it's time to get to the recovery and response efforts in all of these damaged areas. hurricane irene may be over, but the storm left its mark on many areas, from puerto rico to new england, residents are being warned in so many states to stay away from low lying areas where swollen rivers and creeks and places like vermont and new jersey are causing flash floods and flooding. irene created mud slides in puerto rico. just take a look at these pictures of how the mud slides claimed homes in the municipality. fema is working closely with the area to rebuild the community to be better and stronger than before. the president adding on sunday, there is still a lot of work to be done. >> i do want to underscore that the impacts of this storm will be felt for some time and the recovery effort will last for

weeks or longer. >> he's got that's right. it will take weeks to clean up the damage and perhaps months to rebuild and it will be costly, at a price tag of some $7 billion and all of this coming at an enormous price, individuals, communities, and even the federal government. here is what craig fugate, fema director, is saying about this. >> we are working very closely looking at the numbers of what it will take as we get through irene, what it will take for the rest of this year, but also for the impacts all next year. >> one note to adhere, the governors from both parties are actually praising the efforts of fema, totally unlike what happened with fema in the wake of hurricane katrina. they were prepared and ready. >> brian: let's bring in the man, donald trump. welcome back. it must be monday because donald trump is here on our couch. >> you know, i can like the telephone better.

today we have a special occasion. >> steve: we'll get to that in a moment. first let's talk about hurricane irene. they're estimating it probably caused 7, 8, $9 billion worth of damage. but something about this, and kelly just touched on it, the federal officials, state officials tried to get out in front, unlike during the katrina days where they tried to warn everybody how bad it could be. how did the major players do? >> i think they did fine. i think everybody did fine. you can't take a chance. it was certainly not what it was billed to be. i blame the media, you guys, everybody. you went crazy. you couldn't watch anything else. i couldn't watch anything else. there was nothing else you could watch. and yet, you still have to do that. you have to assume the worst because it was not nearly as bad, but i have a lot of properties and there wasn't the huge effects. but you still have to assume the worst. >> alisyn: what about michael bloomberg shutting down all the mass transit. frankly, they're unpredictable. >> michael has been a great mayor, he's a great guy, and he

did the right thing because who know what is it is going to be. it wasn't as the media built, but i bet the media got good ratings. >> brian: as if everybody didn't plow in the winter during the storm. that was mistake. >> steve: he was in bermuda. >> let's talk about ron at all. he said some things like it's all right for iran to have nuclear weapons. he's still making a play in the polls. now he says one of the things he'd like to do is get rid of fema entirely. do you share that? >> as far as iran, i disagree with that 100%. we're very weak on iran. iran is trying to take over the middle east. they will take over iraq as soon as we leave and they'll take over the second largest oil reserves and we will have lost all of those great people and all of that tremendous amount of trillions of dollars and iran will walk in and take it over. so as far as iran is concerned, i disagree. fema has done a poor job, but you need somebody to help. if new york or whatever is under water, we need some agency to help. so i would disagree. i agree with a lot of the things ron paul says. i think he's good.

he's got a great voice, but on fema, i sort of disagree. on iran, i definitely disagree. >> steve: somebody's voice you've heard a couple of times on the phone, rick perry. >> he has called and we've had great conversations. he's doing really well. i'm sort of proud of him. he really is doing well. he's doing a good job. we'll see what happens. it's early yet. but he does have also a great voice. >> alisyn: can you share with us what you've talked about in those conversations? >> i think he likes my views on china. i think he likes what i'm saying about other companies, just countries just absolutely ripping this nation. i watch where obama will get yet another speech today or tomorrow about jobs. i'm so tired of hearing the speeches. we want action, not speeches. i think he and the other candidates, the reason they're all calling, we have resonated what's happening with our jobs, they're not in this country, they're in china, india. a friend of mine moved a plant to mexico. i said, what are you doing? he said the incentives are so great. so giving away our country.

>> brian: that's the message you tried to relay to these candidates, i imagine, and they seem to be listening. you're trying to build a restaurant in new york. no restaurants. you, with all your power, have tried for five years to get these permits. you can't get these permits. >> new york city under mayor bloomberg is good, but this is new york state and the jobs are fleeing new york. they're fleeing the state. i'm trying to build a tremendous catering hall that everybody wants. you can't get the permits! and i actually brought a lawsuit, i won the lawsuit, and even though i won the lawsuit, now the state is appealing. so it's just -- i just say, what does somebody who is not donald trump do? then you wonder why the jobs are leaving new york stay. they're going to florida and other places. so i'm trying to build this thing at jones beach, the parks department is doing such a poor job. i cannot tell you. >> steve: all right. if you build it, they will come. the reason donald has come to "fox & friends" today has to do with this next story.

so stand by. cully inspired young children to stand up to bullies and thieves and he also inspired donald trump. find out what the two have in common on two wheels on the other side of a brief timeout. [ female announcer ] so you think your kids are getting enough vegetables? maybe not. v8 v-fusion juice gives them a full serving of vegetables plus a full serving of fruit. but it just tastes like fruit. [ male announcer ] get five dollars in money-saving coupons at v8juice.com.

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to fight it... to investigate it... ...prosecute it... and stop criminals. our senior medicare patrol volunteers... are teaching seniors across the country... ...to stop, spot, and report fraud. you can help. guard your medicare card. don't give out your card number over the phone. call to report any suspected fraud. we're cracking down on medicare fraud. let's make medicare stronger for all of us. >> brian: this young boy's bicycle was stolen and he just wanted it back, so he wrote a letter. >> someone stole my bike out of my parents' garage. i have said a little prayer for my bike. i also ask god to help someone to make the right decision. i love my god, i love my family, i love my bike. >> alisyn: his passionate plea became a viral sensation. in fact, it was even heard by donald trump who is back here with us and also here is

ten-year-old cully larson. welcome. >> hi. >> steve: you know who this guy is right here? >> donald trump. >> steve: that's right. >> alisyn: donald, you heard about the story of how his bike was stolen. >> on your show. i was watching your show and i watched cully and i said, boy, he's such a great kid, just a great looking and great kid. and i loved, he said, i prayed for my bike. ask i said, when he prayed for his bike, we have to come through. >> steve: what happened to your bike? >> we were at a friend's house. we came back and the door was open and the lights were on. my dad went and turned the lights on. i usually leave them on. the next day i went to go to a skate park with my friends and so when we went in the garage to get it, it wasn't there. we looked all over. we told my mom. we looked in the cemetery to see if somebody dumped it and then we called the police.

>> brian: you're left without a bike. you have a police report and the bike has been -- you had so much fun with this bike. right? >> uh-huh. >> steve: now donald trump enters the picture. you saw it on tv. >> i did. who did i call? >> steve: you called me. >> i actually called steve. i think you were away. i called steve and i said, i just saw the nicest guy on television and his bike was stolen and you knew about the report. i said, let's get him a new bike. get him a beauty. tell him to pick a better bike. i don't know if he did that or not. i'm glad it wasn't a rolls royse. >> brian: did you pick a bike? >> not yet. i will sooner or later. >> steve: you're also doing something ten bikes for ten kids. >> uh-huh. people keep on donating bikes to me, and i say they're not coming to me, they're coming to other kids that got their bikes stolen. >> alisyn: that's so nice. because you know other kids lose their bikes and your story has inspired people. what did you think about all the

bikes that people keep want to go give to you? >> i was shocked because all of our friends have their bikes been stolen when they were little kids. >> brian: now it's finally come full circle. you're going to get your bike back and other kids won't go through the personal inc. -- anguish that you're going through. what prompted to you write the letter? why not keep it to yourself? >> i want my bike back. i don't know. >> steve: listen, you got your bike back and it looks like ten other kids will get their bike back as well. i would keep the donald trump bike. >> i will. >> brian: better than the one you had. >> steve: top of the line. >> brian: donald what, time do you get off work? >> we're going to go bike shopping together. great job. >> steve: cully, we thank you very much. cully and his family came in just before the hurricane, so they were able to see all of new york city --

>> brian: scrambling for cover. >> steve: here is the guy whose name is on so many of the buildings here. >> alisyn: thank you for coming n. donald, thank you for your generosity. >> brian: you are a man of action. both of you are men of action. >> alisyn: that's right. >> steve: also if you would like to help out, go to our web site. >> alisyn: the clean-up continues across the northeast from hurricane irene where there is widespread flooding and millions of people without power. rhode island, one of the areas feeling the wrath of the storm, that's where we find adam housley standing by live in news with port. what does it look like there, adam? >> what a difference a day makes. yesterday at this time the water was smashing up against the seawall right here going over the top where i'm standing and onto the street. this area got battered by winds, not near as bad as it could have been. the power has been out 24 hours. people are talking about that and some of the surface damage done here. as that comes in, we're getting more information about what's happening inland. while the storm may have missed some areas, some areas may have dodged a bullet, so to speak, other areas are getting

absolutely pounded. we know of vermont, the governor has just -- i got on my tweeter feed, the governor said the flooding in vermont is the worst they've had in a century. we've been getting reports of dams, roads. new england is where the water came down heavily and they're continuing to deal without at this hour. while people clean up along the coast, inland is where the problems really continue to exist. >> alisyn: they sure do. we've been looking at those pictures all morning. thank you for the update from there. thank you. >> steve: chances are, you were not invited to kim kardashian's star studded wedding, but lala anthony was. kim's best friend and fellow reality star heading to the curvy couch. >> brian: i wouldn't be surprised if she started walking now. let's check in with bill hemmer. >> outstanding. i love that young man with the bike. he says, i love my family, my dad, and i love my bicycle.

good morning to all three of you. if it does not hit you, it's going to hit somewhere else. we are watching the rivers rise in so many states this morning. there is a debate emerging on how to pay for all this given the broken budget in america. also is social security one monstrous lie? rick perry is making that area and colin powell says dick cheney has some explaining to do? does he? we'll see you in ten minutes. yeah, it's new beneful healthy fiesta. gotta love the protein for muscles-- whoo-hoo! and omega-rich nutrition for that shiny coat. ever think healthy could taste so good? [ woman announcing ] new beneful healthy fiesta. [ male announcer ] this is what it's like getting an amazing discount on a hotel with travelocity's top secret hotels. the easy way to get unpublished discounts of up to 55% off top hotels. harpist not included. ♪ but also a caring touch.

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>> brian: she's a mom and a reality tv star who is married to an nba star, carmel low anthony. but lala anthony is aiming to make a career move into acting and finding out it may not be so easy. her new vh 1 show is called "lala full court life." >> steve: she joins you live

today. >> good morning. >> alisyn: great to see you. >> thank you for having me. >> alisyn: so tell us about the news season, of your new show. >> this season you definitely see behind the scenes when he was traded to the new york knicks and a lot of people don't know what happens behind the scenes of an nba trade. you literally get a call monday night, by 8:00 a.m. tuesday, you have to report to new york city. >> steve: how do you like new york? >> the call is, you have now been traded to the new york knicks. report to camp at 8 a.m. >> steve: what's the reaction? is it like, how could they do it? or yahoo? >> he wanted to come to new york, but we weren't sure if it was going to happen. so in our case it was like okay, what do we do now? we pick up and go and we have a son and our life just completely changed quickly and coming back home to new york city is the most amazing experience, but when you come back home, there is that other side, too, of coming back home, dealing with friends and family and people pulling you a million different ways. >> brian: how about this? he wasn't rich when he left. he comes back rich. so a lot of people say, hey, can

i borrow some money? >> good point. we had to deal with all that. so the show captures that and then you see all of my friends, kim kardashian, you get to see us as girls, what we talk about behind the scenes and how our friendships work. >> alisyn: that's juicy. speaking of kim kardashian, tell us about her wedding. >> her wedding was amazing. i had the best time. it probably took me three days to recover. >> steve: really? >> i spent too much time at the bar. but the wedding was great. i had a great time. and seeing one of my best friends that happy, just means so much to me. >> steve: a lot has been written and spoken about regarding the wedding. tell us one thing about the wedding that happened that nobody has discussed yet? >> brian: it's not on ryan seacrest's reel. >> they have everything! there is not much more to tell other than we had a great time. more important than the cameras and the photographs is just looking at two people being that in love with each other and finding your soul mate the way she found in kris humphries. >> brian: it will be cool. it will be in brooklyn.

>> we're going to take over new york! >> brian: the whole show on the subway. that's what i would do. >> alisyn: i don't think they're riding the subway. >> not in a while. >> steve: she has a metro card and doesn't know whether or not it still works. can you stick around for a minute or two? >> absolutely. >> steve: more with lala in two two. the stronger the rapids, the more we loved it. took some wild risks when i was young. but i was still taking a risk with my cholesterol. anyone with high cholesterol may be at increased risk of heart attack. diet and exercise weren't enough for me. i stopped kidding myself. i've been eating healthier, exercising more, and now i'm also taking lipitor. if you've been kidding yourself about high cholesterol, stop. along with diet, lipitor has been shown to lower bad cholesterol to 60 percent. lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patits who have heart diase

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>> some of the auditions you've been going on lately, we haven't been getting the feedback that we want. >> you went -- >> steve: oh, man. a scene from lala's show on vh 1 tonight. >> alisyn: what does that mean? is that injure agent? >> that was my agent and manager. when you're known as a tv host and a tv personality and trying to cross over into acting, it is very difficult. >> brian: tell bus it. >> sometim