to people you can do more than one thing and i wrapped a movie based on steve harvey's best selling book. so i did it! i worked really hard and i did it and i'm going to star in my first play in new york city. >> steve: and you're going to be in the after the show show with us today. >> my career is on the up and up right now. >> steve: thank you very much. >> thank you so much. >> steve: that's going to do it bill:bill bill: okay, thanks guys. on a pho*rpbgs hope your weekend was good, fox tphaoubs alert, millions of people reeling from irene, many waking up to mass flooding like these pictures he and no power, and in vermont, it's epic, torrential rain like they've never seen before, rivers turning into raging waters and wiping about everything in its path. in a moment you're going to see these historic covered

bridge, three in vermont, that were just washed away, disappearing in a matter of seconds, hundreds more there forced from their homes. we'll also show you this clip where a car is literally rolling down the street, throating on -- floating on water as it goes by. many came out to watch that. that was a small sample of what we're picking up after a long weekend here. i'm bill hemmer, with martha maccallum. we haven't left. martha: no, we're still here. good to see you, bill. it's tragic what happened and those covered bridges are so historic and watching them get washed away is aufp is sad situation in vermont. check out connecticut, massive waves crashing right down in front of their homes, the flood waters in some areas in connecticut are still rising, one woman describes the scene as just a mess of rubble, basically, and other people are just in shock. you w-fp atthe end there, you look down plumb bank, you can see waves flash going peoples' windows and

the curtains coming out, the castle -- the castles, the stairs to the beach, gone, the stairs are floating in the water. >> the water would hit the sea wall and we had the big waves coming up against the buildings. one of the decks you could see was falling off. so it was pretty rough down here. >> it was still dark, i was downstairs, and i heard the tremendous crash, and my first thought was for my wife, who is just maybe 15 feet away from where it came down. bill: we are hearing so many of these stories. jonathan serrie is live on the ground in north kaeurbgsz david lee miller covering the travel nightmare people are waking up to this morning. first, janice dean with an overview, and j.d., good morning. >> reporter: good morning, bill. let's take a look at the video that continues to come in, from broad kapbl queens where some homes are collapsed because of the extreme winds and rain from irene, damaged property for miles and miles. let's now go to some river

flooding in several towns of pennsylvania. at least five deaths reported in and around pennsylvania, but you can see, just the incredible amounts of water, trees down, limbs, of course, rushing down the flooded roadways here, in some cases, these were roadways once, and this video continues to come in, all up and down the northeast coastline. over to long branch, new jersey, one of the most damaging storms in new jersey's history, back yards, basements, highways, streets, completely flooded, winds in excess of 30, 40, 50 miles per hour. the video coming out of long branch, new jersey is just devastating. finally we go to marian, massachusetts, this is a coastal town of massachusetts, where trees are down, thousands upon thousands of people are still without wer. we had wind gusts in excess of 70 miles per hour across this region of massachusetts. so as you can see, the

damage continues to come in, in video, and we are looking at the least 13 states affected by this storm, killing at least two dozen people. bill: you know, the point on that, janice, the winds were not what everyone expected. that's okay. but it's the flooding and the water that has followed on the storm. janice, i want to show you some videotape out of vermont, okay? there were three historic covered bridges built in 1870, they were wiped out on the williams river and they just disappeared in a matter of seconds. >> reporter: unbelievable. bill: so that's out of vermont. we're going to watch that picture throughout the day here janice. also in a moment we're going to show you this vehicle that just went roaring rit down this river in a matter of seconds. japis, that's what you find, right, with flash flood something >> reporter: absolutely, bill. i just want to point out, it's going to take days and even weeks to know the devastation from this storm. a lot of people were saying it was really nothing, only a category, not like

forecasters predicted but tell that to those people in those homes and the video we continue to get. so maybe the winds weren't the problem, but yes, we saw historic flooding from this storm and we will continue to see the potential. we have flash flood watches and warnings all up and down the northeast coastline. and take a look at this storm. there's the video from over the weekend, really just wreaking havoc again over a dozen states, and the damage continues, the damage reports continue to pour in. bill: last check, 23 dead as a direct result of irene. janice, thank you, we'll check in in 20 minute, okay? >> martha. martha: then you have the severe flooding issues in the state of new jersey, where rivers spilled their banks, inundated homes and businesses and major highways and streets, and all of it preventing crews from reaching this massive house fire in pompton lakes, new jersey. take a look at that scene. what does that look like, surrounded with water, a fire ball in the middle.

there was word that was caused by a ruptured gas line. luckily nobody was home at the time, so that is good news. bill: here is something you don'trary every -- hear every day, new jersey governor chris christie urging people to stay home from work today, the governor has been assessing damage along the coastline, we heard from him at least twice on sunday, about 700,000 homes and businesses without power in new jersey, waking up today, and officials expect several new jersey rivers and creeks to spill over today, so those waters are still rising, also. martha: further south -- further south in north carolina irene's fury was on des play in kittyhawk, complete sections of roads washed away, homes destroyed, north carolina governor bev perdue says cleaning up from this storm is going to be a huge challenge. >> there's a lot of property damage. it's what you would see on the first day after a hurricane. we saw peoples' goods in the streets, waiting for pickup, we heard about debris everywhere, about what's going to be the process for

debris. it's been a hard week for a lot of people in north carolina along the coast. martha: boy, that's the truth. jonathan serrie is live in wilmington, north carolina. jonathan, how much damage? what's the graph of the total state issue here? >> reporter: yeah, governor perdue is still trying to get her hands around it as she continues her tour of eastern and north carolina. yesterday she visited portions of the outer banks which really took the brunt of the storm. we have some dramatic pictures to show you from the kittyhawk and kill devil hills area in that video. you can see damaged buildings, washed out roads, including highway 12, which is the major thorough fare going through these outer banks, and linking them to the mainland. so very significant, the portions of that major thorough fare are washed out. also, in some case, the storm surge was so strong that it carved out new channels through the outer banks, water, running in between buildings and in some cases, washing out sand

from underneath the buildings, martha. martha: so talk to me a little about how they think -- how long they think it's going to take, jonathan, for them to get things back to normal for people in north carolina. >> reporter: well, while many buildings suffered heavy damage, the outer banks as a whole were by no means destroyed, and so they're determined to reopen for business, many of these communities in time for the labor day holiday weekend when they expect many tourists to come, and they point out that already, most of the public beaches have already reopened, martha. martha: jonathan, thank you. great coverage throughout. it's good to see it's a sunny day this morning on this monday in north carolina. we'll get back to you later, jonathan. bill: a bit of a sigh ofie -- leaf, right? bennington, vermont, go ahead and roll this tape, this was videotape that was shot late on sunday, and watch here.

and that scene was repeated on that river for hours at a time, with the waters rising in vermont. they are looking at historic flooding up there in vermont. and so many people, frankly, did not even talk about that state. but this is how unpredictable these storms can be. you do not know once they come on shore what they will do after that point, and what irene has done has left the lives of thousands, if not tens of thousands of people, in an absolute lurch at the moment. northeastern airport, reopening this morning, 10,000 flights canceled in two days, a ripple effect will be felt for days after that, and david lee mill ser live in our newsroom in new york city. how are people going to get home? or how are they going to get to work, david lee? how are they going to do both at this point? >> >> reporter: good morning, i'll answer that, very slowly. in total, bill, 12,500

flights were canceled because of irene and today alone, 1300 flights were canceled. how many people affected? the airlines are not saying. different groups, though, have made estimates, they say between 650,001,000,000 people are stranded because of these canceled flights. the good news, all three new york city airports have resumed operations, and this is significant because those three airports are the biggest aviation hubs in the united states. also, operating now, philadelphia, atlanta, d.c., boston. the airlines most affected by the storm, delta, us airways, american airlines, united, jetblue. the airlines saying essentially they're going to need a day or several days in order to reposition their jets. numbers of these jets were relocated because of the storm and now it's going to take time to return those aircraft to the airports where they should be able to service passengers. some of the airlines say that jets are now returning to those locations, but interestingly, they are empty.

some of the airlines say it's going to take days and days and days in order for normal service to resume, and as you mentioned a moment ago, bill, the ripple effects are affecting the entire system. they say what happens in vegas stays in vegas. that is especially true now because passengers there are stranded. listen: >> thought we were going home! not today. >> went to las vegas, had a great time, hurricane irene done us wrong. >> and hurricane irene has also done wrong some rail passengers. very quickly, amtrak is saying that there will be service between philly and d.c. today, but that all service is now suspended due to flooding between boston and philadelphia. they are working on the problem. bill: so many e-mails and tweets from our viewers, wondering what they can do now at this point, and i guess the best advice, back to patience. david lee miller in new york. take a look at this picture, the normally bustling grand central

terminal here in new york city, screen left, that's when it's working, screen right was over the weekend, for the past two days, not a soul to be found in sight. and this photo, after the mayor, michael bloomberg, got the mass transit system up and running again, after urging new yorkers to stay indoors. i guess you won't see that. but screen left is the way it should look and screen right was the way it was over the weekend, and it will be sometime before it's that way again, i would venture to guess, martha. martha: well, take a look at this. historic flooding and damage after hurricane irene, just one story we're following this morning, but you know what? there's other stuff going on in the world that we need to get to as well, and this top story today, take a look at this, he's the only man convicted of killing 270 people, including 189 americans. now new reports that the lockerbie bomber is once again at death's door. we'll talk about that. bill: also, governor rick perry might be the last person, or rather, the latest to jump into the 2012 race.

he's already surging past mitt romney as the new frontrunner in many polls. so what does romney need to do to keep pace? a fair and balanced debate on that, and more. martha: two former bush insiders go head to head. this is getting interesting, folks. why colin powell is outraged at dick cheney. >> mr. cheney has had a long distinguished career and i hope in this book that's what he will focus on, not these cheap shots.

martha: all right, welcome back, everybody. let's get back to politics for a moment. we've got some troubling news in new polls for the the -- for the the president. take a look at this, his approval ratings is down again, according to gfk poll, where these numbers are coming, from they say that 52 percent of people disapprove of the job that president obama is doing, 46 percent approve, high unemployment and concerns of another recession are believed to be dragging down the president's support.

bill: irene's price tag now expected to be enormous, estimates already, already, said to be in the billion of dollars on the east coast. >> we are working very closely, looking at the numbers for what it's going to take, depending upon the damages we get through irene, what it will take for the rest of this year, but also for the impacts of irene on next year. bill: who's going to foot the bill? we've already seen natural disasters in this country which deplete the supply of money they have for the disaster relief fund. john fund, appropriately enough, from the american spectator, good morning. >> thanks. bill: who pays? >> insurers are going to pay about $2.6 billion. that's a lot of money. but it's a lot less than the $14 billion that was estimated by connecticut analysis, an insurance adjusting company just last week of the obviously, individuals who don't have insurance are going to pay a lot. then the taxpayers are going to pay. they're going to pay in two ways, bill: one, about half of the cost of the disaster

is going to be the cleanup and almost all of that, whether it's roads or trees or bridges, is going to be borne by the government. the second cost is all of those beach homes that you saw being battered in north carolina and south carolina, it's government insurance that has basically allowed people to live there. at very low cost. and most of that cost is going to be borne by the taxpayer. we're subsidizing people to live on the lower banks of north carolina. bill: it's remarkable, isn't it? but homeowners, listen, they're taking a risk to live there, too, and they understand the risk when they put up their homes and live in places that are prone to seeing natural disasters like this. however, what we saw last week with this earthquake rumble on the east coast, we saw eric cantor come out and say i live in a district in virginia that was affected by the quake and i'm all for giving folks aid there, but only if you cut in other areas, given that the state of our -- given the state of our american budget now.

is that the debate that's going to shape up in washington? >> well, clearly, we're out of money. we have an enormous decifit. so it might help if we actually did cut somewhere else. there are 18,000 federal programs, surely some of them could take a nick. but going back a little to your beach home question, of course people bear the risk of living on the beach and of course, they're going to pay costs, but the question is, shouldn't they pay the full cost? and that's what the federal insurance program is all about. it's basically giving cut rates, subsidized insurance to people, and maybe that's what we want to do, but a lot of the rest of us aren't getting those kind of insurance breaks. bill: that is true. just, by the way, you had a virginia art quake, which is minimal in terms of damage, 2011 saw the historic mississippi flood, we've seen that, north daz flooding, massive tornadoes in the midwest and south, o'clock about places like new jersey that were wiped out just months ago. in the end it all costs money. john fund, thanks. >> thank you. bill: appreciate is on a

monday morning. martha. martha: as irene moved up the east coast, presidential candidate ron paul made headlines with his take on what to do to get the economy back on track. ron paul on saving america from a financial crisis. you'll hear what he had to say, next. >> hands off. give us a sound currency. free up the markets. property rights, enforce contracts. make sure people go bankrupt when they're bankrupt, and don't bail out their buddies.

bill: here's an update for you, irene is delaying the opening for school in ocean city, maryland. massive power outages there, folks say they largely escaped the storm, and no reports of severe flooding or damage, except for that sea foam, parents and students advised to check websites for the county school districts. that's sea foam. not the kind of thing you

want for breakfast, is it? not a chance. martha: that's the worst. and there's a number one issue right now on the campaign trail, and what else could it be? the need to get america back on a sound financial track. and nobody is more outspoken about that -- a lot of people are outspoken about it, but one of the most perhaps is texas congressman ron paul and he sat down with chris wallace in a great interview yesterday, talking about what he thinks needs to be done to get america working again. >> it's been over ten years that our economy has been flipping, so they would say hands off, give us a sound currency, free up the markets, property rights, enforce contracts, make sure people go bankrupt when they're bankrupt, an don't bail out their buddies, don't let the federal reserve create money out of thin air and bail out their buddies. the most important thing about economics is the artificially low interest rates which cause business people, savers, and consumers to do the wrong things, they make mistakes.

it's sort of like a price control that causes all the problems. >> congressman, we have less than a minute left. fed chairman bernanke announced this week that he is not going to take any immediate action to boost the economy. do you think that your criticism which is now being echoed by some other republicans, both in the presidential race and in congress, do you think your criticism may have led him to pull back? >> really, he really hasn't pulled back. symbolically he has and he's not having another qe3 but he has maintained that he will keep interest rates low up until 2013. he can't keep interest rates low without monetizing debt, because if somebody else doesn't buy it, he has to buy it. so he's continuously quantitatively easing. so greenspan did that when he held interest rates too low, too long, and he was instrumental in creating the bubble. so it is not a big change in things. he at least -- but he sort of said oh, it's up to the congress. you know, it's the congress,

the congress, they need to deal with this, because he's sort of throwing up his hands, but all he needs to do is quit monetizing debt. interest rates will go up and congress will be forced to cut. that's why gold backing currency, gold standard restrains government, government can't spend antlessly in spwaoeuments and by financing to fight these endless wars. martha: very interesting. good back and forth with chris wallace, with ron paul you can catch fox news sunday every weekend. bill: a lot more on that interview, too. you know what ron paul told us a couple of weeks ago, he said the issues have caught up to me, i haven't caught up to the issues. and he was ahead in that straw poll by 70 votes. martha: he has a point on that. he's been talking about smaller government for many years and shrinking the size of the federal government. he wants interest rates to be higher so there's a little more of a barrier to spending money in this country. he's getting a lot of attention. his ideas are. and we'll see how he does going forward.

a very interesting interview. all right, we're going to talk about this really disturbing story coming up. he was freed, as you well remember, on the grounds of compassion, the word was when he got off the plane in 2009 that he was dying momentarily of cancer. but you know what? that was two years ago now. and the man convicted of killing 189 americans is still alive, and now lawmakers are calling for him to be handed back. now that the government that supported him in libya has disintegrated, now we're hearing once again that's not possible because he definitely is on his death bed. we're going to talk about that. bill: also amazing images coming in from so many viewers on their battle with irene. in moments, we are live on the ground, and one of the hardest hit areas. stay tuned for that.

martha: getting arrange pretty tough today, as we start to see what the wrath of irene is on major roads all up and down the east coast. this is the new york state throughway, basically the gateway from new york city, new jersey, all the way to the upper reaches of new york state, the adirondacks, the whole section of it washed out with mud this

morning. that is a tough situation for folks trying to get back and forth to the upstate new york region. we're keeping an eye on that, mud just covering a lot of very high cliff necessary that area, so you get mudslides coming down that cover that road as a result of this huge storms over the weekend. bill: for the folks that thought that was gone, think again. hurricane irene is out of here but the problems remain in significant parts of new york, pennsylvania, new jersey, the massive storm started widespread flooding and water levels are still rising. john huddy from fox new york is live in boundbrook, new jersey. what's the scene there john? >> reporter: well, bill, take a look. this is main street, behind me here, in boundbrook and the storm is over but the problems are beginning in terms of the flooding here in new jersey. a lot of issues with that, not only here in bound brook, which is along the rareton river but also some of the other rivers and communities that sit on the river. here in bound brook, a couple hundred people had to be evacuated, had to get

doubt of the downtown area at the rareton river, it started overflowing and throughout the state governor christie said he's expecting record flooding levels because of irene, and not only the rain that it dropped, but now the river is starting to crest here. some of the other rivers thattor of concern, the pompton river, the passaic in particular, which is a little knot of us. by the way, bound brook is in somerset county, the river thrupbs but little falls, just outside of manhattan, the two towns earlier this spring were hit hard, because of all the winter storms, it was a busy winter and spring rain showers and the mayor in little falls says he's expecting things to get bad over the next few days, to get ugly. here in bound brook, it's quite a contrast, you have beautiful clear blue skyings, but then you have the flooding on the street. bill: just two weeks ago, john, they had 7 inches of rain. like they need anymore.

thanks -- thanks, john huddy we keep getting incredible images of the aftermath, you can watch that, foxnews.com, click on the link and see the images from all over the east coast. it's online. martha: all right. let's get you to this story now. new reports says the lockerbie bomber is on his death bed once again. these came in over the course of yesterday throughout the day. his brother, abdel -- the brother to abdel al megrahi, the only man convicted of the death of 270 people in the 1998 pan am jet over lockerbie scotland, we're now told he is indeed dying of cancer at his libyan home. his brother spoke to journalists outside the home. listen to this. >> the lockerbie case is over. he came back to libya because of a decision from the scottish justice minister. he is a sick man. martha: all right.

joined now by john bolton, former ambassador to the u.n. and fox news contributor. good morning, ambassador bolton. you know, i guess you can't blame his brother for saying that, the family would like this to be over, they have their family member back home, and you know, it's understandable that that's their perspective, but a lot of people believe that since qaddafi's regime has fallen that maybe we get another crack at al megrahi and getting him back where he belongs. >> well, technically he's still a scottish prisoner. he's basically out on parole, compassionate release, they call it, but you know, the terms of the deal under which he was tried under scottish law ten years ago really were violated by qaddafi through and through. he didn't cooperate with the investigation. so i think it's perfectly legitimate to look at another trial of megrahi if we can do it before he dies. i personally think this time the united states insist he be extradited to the united states. i think it was a mistake to

agree to try him over scott ish law. okay, that's water over the dam but let's get him back and see what we can do this time. martha: i'm reading a statement that was just released by an assistant to the first minister in scotland and basically they're saying this is a closed decision, they're saying speculation about al megrahi in recent days has been unhelpful, unnecessary and indeed ill informed, as has always been said he is dying after terminal disease and decisions about his medical condition should be stopped there, they say they want to stop the running commentary on this issue so scotland says this is not up for renegotiation. who in scott -- -- besides scotland would we deal with if we want to force this issue and get him to -- him back to where he wants to be >> speaking to someone whose heritage is scottish, i have to say that that's the most ridiculous thing, the way scotland has conducted this is ridiculous, they don't have the unilateral authority to make this decision. it was a joint agreement

with britain, scotland and the united states and they released megrahi two years ago on the theory he was going to die in three months without adequately consulting us, i think they did it at the behest of the british got, for british oil interests, but in any event, i think that now it is proper, it is appropriate, for the united states to insist to the new government, the transitional national council in libya, that megrahi be hand over to us, and i think we should have no hesitation in doing that. martha: but ambassador, the hn -- tnc said yesterday they see no reason to turn him over, that they will not turn over a libyan citizen to the west, so this doesn't say much for the tnc's relationship with the rest of the world in terms of how it might have changed with regard to this issue to be sure. >> right. well so much for gratitude. i understand this morning the transitional government has issued a retraction to that, understandably. they are still a little confused. so i think we ought to give

them a chance to make a decision to hand megrahi over. i think this is entirely consistent with justice. he killed 270 innocent people in cold blood, he served an average of two weeks per murder in that scottish jail, just over ten years, before he was released, two weeks of murder is not an -- a murder is not an adequate sentence. i think we deserve another shoal him martha: a lot people, the families of those killed say the health -- sorry to say it, but his health is really irrelevant in this case. if he dies in prison, so be it. a lot of people die in prison. >> yeah, look, compassion is entirely misplaced here. think of those 259 passengers and crew on pan am103, paulg through the cold dark sky from 30,000 feet, then ask me why this man deserves compassion. martha: yeah, well, suddenly they've decided once again that he's knocking at death's door and eventually, if he has this terminal disease, which according to

all these reports, he does, he will pass away, but the timing of it seems irrelevant to me in many regards given what this man is accused of. ambassador bolton, we thank you for being here and we hope that the united states government finds some wherewithal to change the situation before it's too late. thank you sir. >> absolutely, thank you. bill: 21 minutes before the hour. r*eurbg perry, throwing verbal bombs in the race for 2012, he says that social security is a, quote, monstrous lie. in a moment, we'll debate -- debate what he means by that, whether or not he's got a point. martha: officials in vermont say this is the borest -- worst flooding in their state in 100 years and it could get worse, today's new threat, putting people there on high alert. we'll be right back.

martha: brand new pictures just coming in as we continue to get a sense this morning, now that the sun is shining over a lot of water. this is flooding in greenfield, massachusetts, this is the northern corner

of massachusetts, just near the vermont border, where folks there are just inundated with water, as they get up to take a look around this morning. it is a very, very tough sight for those folks. more coming in. bill: big money. a long way from the mississippi river. now politics, is mitt romney losing his frontrunner status in the republican nomination? texas governor rick perry has been surging in some polling and now leads the field. the latest gallup 2012 matchup shows rick perry leading by double digits among republicans and republican leaning eupbtds. romney in second place at 17 percent. let's debate this now. doug schoen, former pollster to president bill clinton, andrea tantaros and new host of the "the five". i don't know how you call it a cohost, there are five of you, so you'd be the co, co, co, co host! >> that makes sense!

bill: does mitt romney need to change his game, andrea, yes or no? >> look, i think mitt romney is running a play book he ran first time around and he's failed to have any good answers when it comes to romneycare in massachusetts, even if the fox news -- even at the fox news debateby heard the same points and he went into that debate as most frontrunners do, trying not to get hit. it's almost like he was hidingun the podium, he wanted to remain unscathed and rick perry has captured the imagination of the g ofpl p electorate, one looking for more of an outsider, fresh face and somewhere for the evangelical toss call home, so i think the real race has become a 2-man race between the two. bill: you're saying that romney has backed off, he needs to change his stance and be more aggress stkpwhraoeuf that's right. bill: doug, is that the way that romney needs to be advised? >> absolutely. romney is on a path to defeat. that's for sure. andrea is exactly right.

he's got a job speech scheduled for september 6th. it remains to be seen what he's going to say and what he's going to offer, bill, that will be bold and distinctive and will turn around a drop in the poll that is is decisive, clear and unambiguous. bill: now the issues, guys, and this is a big one. rick perry is talking about social security being one big monstrous lie, calls it a ponzi scheme for young people. you've seen his book, right andrea? >> uh-huh. bill: that he wrote in 2011, called "fed up" and he talked about social security back then. so these comments at least to those people who have folded rick perry are not new, but to a national audience, they are. now does it play? >> they're new and they're very important. particularly looking to capture the younger vote. i mean, he's talking to basically my generation. i mean, and he's right. on some level, he's right, social security is a lie, it was never meant to be a retirement program, and according to recent reports in d.c., social security is

set to be drained in 2037, and so he's right to go out there and talk about the need to make significant change. now, harry reid has said it doesn't need to be fixed, it doesn't immediate to have anything done to it. bill: 2037 is 26 years from now. >> but think about -- >> bill and we know that medicare and medicaid, those are the big drivers of the decifit now. does the spending for those entitlement programs -- the spending for those entitlement programs are through the rough. >> but the big ses social security and if you're someone like myself or even younger and looking to capture that vote you've got to think of other ways to preserve it, once the 80 million baby boomers that are now entering the system, they start to drain it even further. so for someone like me, i want to hear him talk about defined benefits, where i can start to put money away in an account so it will be there. i debate bob beckel, i've paid payroll tax for that. i want that money! bill: he's probably getting double time for that, too. doug, is rick perry on to something for folks like andrea or other americans

who hold similar concerns? >> well, i think he's making profound mistakes, bill, with all due respect, both to andrea and to bob beckel. i mean, bottom line, andrea is right, in 2037, there will be a problem, with means testing, with raising the retirement age gradually, and the limitation on -- you can fix social security easily but it's got to be part of a broad-based, balanced budget plan but to use school tactics, like call things lies and ben bernanke, treacherous, treason us -- treasonous, all he's doing is showing he's not a ready for prime time player. bill: you don't think these arguments get him votes, then. >> they may get him votes on the republican right. they may galvanize the base and rand may personally respond well, and her generation, but bottom line, this is not the kind of responsible and reasonable rhetoric and policy that gets you elected president. bill: we'll see how rick perry explains it. andrea, i've got to run. doug, you get the last word,

andrea gets the final word at 5:00 today. >> as the co, co, co host! bill: co, co, co host. >> just call me cocoa! bill: thank you. >> thank you bill. bill: you bet. go to fox news/"america's newsroom". shoot me an e-mail, or twitter at bill hemmer. you have no excuse. we need your query now, because you asked, bya. martha. martha: we've got more amazing video of irene's fury coming into our newsroom out of long beach, new york, a lifeguard tower. this was really the shot of the weekend, washed off of its moorings, basically, slammed into the board walk there. we've got that coming up next. plus, this victory! >> and they win it! from huntington beach,

california. martha: how great is that? i mean, how much -- i'll take that over the major league, any day of the week. bill. bill: so great to watch. martha: they beat japan, okay? twelve-year-old nick pratto smacked a single. he'll never forget that moment for the rest of his life, and the champion, usa, the final score was 2-1. oh my gosh.

bill: about eight minutes before the hour, we're awaiting president obama's announcement, expected to nominate alan kruger to the head of the white house council of economic advisers, replacing austan goolsbee who left that post earlier this year. a city bus rear ending a parked tour bus in beverly hills, california, 15 people on board, suffered minor injuries, police now

investigating that. that's more than just a fender-bender there. all right. martha: long beach, new york, where they are assessing the damage after yesterday's big storm, hurricane irene battering the beach town just outside new york city. laura ingle has basically been in long beach for, what -- for what probably feels like an eternity. laura, you know, so many places are out of power. it's difficult to get on or off of the place where you are right now. let's start with the power situation. how's that going out there? >> okay. you know, today, it's a beautiful day, it's certainly been a lot nicer than we've seen over the last 24-36 hours, of course, and as far as the power is concerned, in new york state, nearly 1 million people, still without power. here on long island, over 400,000 people are still in the dark. man, it really is a huge cleanup. you mentioned kind of one of the visuals of the weekend was the lifeguard tower that was knocked off its foundation. it's right here behind me.

that is the long beach lifeguard headquarters for the entire beach, where all the radios are kept, it's how the lifeguard along this beach keep in communication with each other. we'll give you a live look at the cleanup going on. you can see all of the muddy surf boards and kayaks they have to contend with. the storm will have lasting effects as we start the work week and 6 million homes if we're counting now in 13 states, in the district -- and the district of columbia, are without power, virginia and north carolina have been in the dark after irene came stomping through with powerful winds that knocked down trees and power lines, same scene along the east coast, new jersey, pennsylvania, maryland, power officials report a total of 850,000 without the ability to turn on a light switch, a blow dryer or coffee pot. martha: we saw some incredible pictures out in long island of trees down everywhere. there are some places, and long beach is one of them, where it's just

impossible to get from point a to point b today. >> reporter: yeah, you know, we certainly saw that yesterday, and crews have been doing a really good job of cleaning up the flooding, getting those leaves out of the storm drains, and those branches and trees out of the streets. but the flood, i mean, some of these streets here really were rivers. we want to give you video of tower beach in new york city that really had a lot to contend with. this is a good example of what people had to deal with. it sure is a good thing that people on long island and new york have canoes and boats because people have needed them to get through, a lot of cars deluged, trying to get through streets, and breaking down in some cases -- i wouldn't say floating away but certainly submerged so they had a big problem. martha: you certainly take a chance when you drive your car through water which we just saw because sometimes it can stop and never start again. bill: we see tile and again -- they say tile and again, if there's water sitting in the street, don't drive

through it. martha: some have these suvs and think they can plow through it, and sometimes they can and sometimes you can't and then if you get stuck in a situation where the water comes in, you may have a tragic event. bill: then you end up on this tv program. martha: that's not where you want to be. bill: dick cheney's new memoir making some waves and why colin powell saying why he's not happy with this particular book. martha: and as a new day dawns, people are out there, getting a look at how ugly and dirty and messy and muddy the whole thing is. we'll be back. >> it was amazing. it's amazing what happened here. >> the devastation that it's caused, it's amazing. it's amazing what mother nature can do.

martha: the storm that

formed over the tropics of the carribean did some of the worst damage to parts of northern new england is what we're learning this morning, expecting the unexpected, and it came all day long. >> it's usually a gentle stream. you could easily walk across martha: wow. unbelievable scenes. in the green mountain state, homes and buildings and covered bridges, historic covered bridges, literally floating away in these raging rivers, falling in a matter of hours across that rugged terrain. it has been a very tough day for so many as we watch all of this. this is a brand new hour starting at 10bg on the east coast in "america's newsroom". good to see you, happy monday, everybody! here we are, how's it going, bill hemmer? bill: nice to see it's monday, huh? >> martha: already! bill: wherever you are, hope you had a good weekend, come high water or the other stuff. i'm bill hemmer, good

morning. more than 1000 miles of american soil right now, waking up in shambles, and north carolina is in a direct hit from a full fledged hurricane. that slowed her down just a bit, but irene soaked new jersey to the bone. leaving millions without power, and thousands with severe flood damage already. martha: as irene made her way out of the try state area, connecticut caught some of the heaviest rains and the angriest seas. >> we've been to the castle, they had stairs going down to the beach, gone. our stairs are floating. the stairs are floating in the water. martha: all right. let's go to molly line, live in dartmouth, massachusetts with an update on the tough situation. she's not donning the jacket anymore, the sun is out and it's good to see you there this morning, molly. >> reporter: hey good morning. that's right, we are in recovery mode as is much of

the eastern coast, from massachusetts all the way up through maine. we really got tkrefplg dollars yesterday, and the rain, the wind, absolutely incredible. today it's the calm after the storm. we are in dartmouth, massachusetts, this is the boat yard here at davis & trip and they're beginning to get the boats that were pulled out of the water yesterday back in the water. you're looking here, getting back into the water after a lot of the folks have taken precaution and pulled their boats ow. there were a couple of boats that got loose last night, smashing up against the rocks across the way and the bridge that goes over the harbor has been shut down today. it was awash in seaweed yesterday, some of that coastal flooding coming up and over it and they want to make sure it's safe so it's been blocked by the police, and until they check it out for structural damage, it will stay that way. there are hundreds of thousands of people without power now, newport, rhode island, all the way through massachusetts, there are still people that remain without power and utility crews are out there, they have been clearing trees. we've seen a lot of the big

branches have been moved to the side of the road, a lot of the wires still down this morning. they say it may take days and even into next weekend, this upcoming weekend to get things cleaned up and back in order. that's because some of the big power lines and some of the sub stations are also seeing trouble, so once those things can be brought back online, we'll see a lot more power coming to the households across massachusetts and rhode island. the western part of massachusetts got some of the worst of the flooding, governor duval patrick out there today, checking things out and vermont, vermont absolutely got slammed by this storm. as far as flooding is concerned, we have incredible video from there in the states. there's a possibility that one person was killed by flooding. we know a couple of the historic bridges were washed out, there are reports that cars and possibly homes were pulled in by some of those overflowing rivers, so the authorities there are still trying to assess the damage. the rivers are reportedly beginning to recede, so they'll get a better chance to get into cleanup mode and to find anyone that may or may not be missing.

that i recall still trying to figure out if people were hurt, injured or lost in this storm. martha. martha: molly, what a great look you've given us at so much of the damage, all over new england, and you think about all the coastal areas that were the greatest concern, and this is just a huge, slow moving storm that dumped a ton of rain on already swollen rivers and creeks all through that area and they are feeling two today -- it today. great coverage, thank you very much, molly line reporting from dartmouth, massachusetts this morning. bill: we showed you this a couple of times. i think it's worth looking at this incredible piece of individuals --o video out of vermont. the city of bennington. just watch here: >> that car looks like it was made out of cork and it bobs and notes its way down that river, then underneath that concrete bridge, then out of sight from the folks standing on the river banks there. that gives you a sense of just how powerful the flood

waters were late yesterday when the flash floods started kicking in. you had to be on higher ground in places like bennington. martha: incredible, incredible scenes in beautiful bennington, vermont. then we go back to new jersey that got hit so hard, a massive fire, might seem out of place in the middle of a flood but that is exactly what happened in new jersey and it is ongoing right now. this is just a bizarre scene. early this morning, there was an explosion at a home in pompton lake, it was so fierce, this explosion that, reportedly it just shook everyone out of bed. the firefighters on a boat now, trying to pump water into the home. ironically, it is almost surrounded by water on all sides but this gas leak is the problem. the people were not in that home, to be clear on that. that was our understanding earlier today. but people in the surrounding areas were literally shaken out of their beds when thing exploded. bill there was only one way to get to that house, that

was if you had a boat, but water was all over the place. another developing story, also in new jersey, check out the big rig in franklin township, the driver of that 18 wheeler now stuck inside, we're told rescue crews, expected there any moment. we'll watch this as it continues to develop there. further south now, in north carolina, folks might have had the longest day of anyone for this storm. hurricane irene, now blamed for killing at least six in the tar heels state. chairman of the dare county board of commissioners, sir, good morning to you, how are you holding up? >> we're doing fine, sir, good morning to you. bill: listen, how bad is it in places like hatteras and kill devil hills? because the aerial images we have, they show roads that have been entirely wiped out. what does it look like? >> well, it's kind of the tale of two storms. north of the -- north of oregon inlet or the northern beaches, the damage and the

storm impact, even though it was a strong ocean attack with wind and rain, the damage really occurred on our sound side, it occurred where our people live, where we live, with severe sound side flooding that i heard you mention how long the storm was, it was over a total of 15 hours we had hurricane force winds and storm force winds, and we couldn't escape that rush of the sound. bill: how many hours was that, sir? >> i want to say 15 hours that we had from one end of the county to the other, that we had this. bill: so you had hurricane force winds for 15 hours. >> yes, sir. bill: along with that, you had rainwater that must have been how many inches on top of that? >> either hurricane or storm force winds, and i don't have the inches of rain on the top of my head, i'm sorry, but we got a lot of rain, and that sound side flooding comes from the pushing of the sound waters all the way up from the southern pamico, into the

abormal. bull bill where do you start now to start the process or begin the process of recovery? >> well, we hopefully get fema in and get the insurance people in and get them to the folks who have had the damage at their homes, and give them whatever assistance we can. the island, for the most part, powers back up. we still have areas that power is out. on the northern beach and on roanoke island on the main road, roads are passable, infrastructure, utilities are pretty much in place. we have some spotty outages here and there, the villages, the village of wan chief and stumpy point took a lot of flooding but those folks are great, great people and we will assist them in -- assist them in drying out, whatever we can do. hatteras island, the island to the south, we've had some compromises in the road, and

we had the governor down here yesterday, both of our u.s. senators are engaged in helping with the permit process. that road runs to a national wildlife refuge so permits become an issue, and we're hoping that between our governor and our two u.s. senators, senator hagan and senator burr, that they can cut through that bureaucracy that so often times holds us all up. bill: i bet. we've talked to all three of them, by the way, the governor and both senators, the governor yet said that parts of north carolina were inaccessible, cut off. is that the case? >> that's the case with hatteras island. the only way to hatteras island right now is by ferry you can't get on the island any other way. and that's a long ferry ride. so -- >> bill: are you able to put a dollar amount on this in terms of damage? >> no. it's been kind of tricky for

us at the moment, and i'll share why. with our assessment people on the ground yesterday, there's not huge amounts of structural damage. it's real easy if you go down the street, you see 20 houses with the roofs blown off and the sides knocked off. it's real easy for those bean counters to quickly put a value on it. what we're talking about is how to assess the flood damage and this takes longer for us to assess that. bill: i see. can you remember a storm that struck north carolina and still delivered significant damage to the state of vermont? which is what we're watching right now with these cars and trees rolling down a river. >> no, sir, i have no memory of that. they're all unique. they're all unique. but this storm has certainly had a character of its own. our hearts and good wishes and prayers go out to the folks in vermont. i mean, as we watched some of the footage, we can only

sympathize, because we've been there. and we wish them the very best. and if there's anybody in that state that wants to pick our brains, you have them call us. i don't know that we're experts, but we've been through it a lot. bill: you sound like a good man. >> we certainly might be able to share with them some ideas or maybe help them open some doors. bill: warren judge, thank you, dare county board of commissioners, chairman down there in north carolina. >> thank you sir. bill: leaving work late last night, i ran into a couple of friends, they said look at you guys in the media blowing this out of proportion, the politicians blowing it out of proportion. my point is this. new york city does not get it, but we are lucky. in every hurricane, they are so amazingly unpredict *b predictable and if you don't get it, somebody else did, and you saw it in north carolina and you're seeing it in vermont and parts of pennsylvania and upstate new york and new jersey. you can ask those folks about irene, because she las

left her mark. martha: there's this mentality it's a category one storm so it's nothing. tell that to the almost two dozen people and their families who lost their lives in this and to all of the people up and down the east coast who have had severe damage to their property. take a look at what's happening in booten, new jersey, where there is major flooding. and this is an area that is also close to some very high lives -- cliffs so there is runoff there, the water that has come down there over the last two weeks has been tremendous, then yod the insult of irene to the injury of the former rain storms and you have boonton, new jersey, in the western part of the state, and it is inundated with water this morning. bill: that it is. i remember the mayor coming out on thursday of last week saying if you live in a high rise in new york city, get out, because you could experience flying glass. that did not happen. but it really seemed like that that comment got everybody in a forward motion to say oh my gosh, what's this thing going to be like.

martha: the thing is, with mother nature, you never know where it's going to go, so you look at it, predict where it might go and we got ready in new york city but no one said watch out bennington, vermont because you're about to get hammered from this thing, and they did. so you have to be very sort of compassionate to those who have been really hurt by this, and our hearts go out to them. we're trying to get their word out. bill: we're going to vermont, and these scenes, you expect to see them in the midwest, perhaps, north carolina as we just talked about, but this is vermont, this is the green mountain statement we're going to talk to the man who shot this video, this footage of his own home being washed away. martha: there's a storm brewing in washington and it has to do with this man, who was vice president of the united states, dick cheney, and colin powell, who was secretary of state, they both worked for the same administration, but they have a different way of seeing things in many ways, and today, colin powell responds to the former vice president's new book. >> they are cheap shots. several of the ones he tosses at me, you know, he

takes great credit for my resignation in 2004. well, president bush and i had always agreed i would leave at the end of 2004.

bill: we are following yet another developing story, again new jersey. this is in franklin township, we've been watching this big rig throughout the morning. the driver of that 18 wheeler is said to be stuck inside. we're told rescue crews expected there any moment right now. so we're watching this to see whether or not that man is brought to safety. that is one place you don't want to be, huh? >> martha: all right, well, there is a war of words that has gone nuclear between former vice president dick cheney and former secretary of state colin powell, tkha*eupby's -- cheney's tell all memoir is critical of powell's time in the white house and powell is not taking it sitting down, he is firing back, disputing specifically many of the claims in cheney's book. >> taking the same shots at

condi, can a condescending tone, she tearfully did this and the same shots at jen tenet and he has in some ways indicated he didn't always approve of what president bush was deciding, and there's nothing wrong with saying you disagree but it's not not -- not necessary to take these kind of barbs and try to pump a book up by saying heads will be exploding. martha: that was some of the back and fourth weekend. joined by alan coomes, host of the alan coomes show and fox news political analyst, angela, welcome to both of you. obviously, when you're coming out with a book that looks back, you know, you want to make it so that people are interested in reading it, so that's one of the big headlines here that has to be taken into account, so alan, one of the things that dick cheney said was that heads were going to explode when people saw what was in his book and that's obviously quite enticing, khro*upb powell said my head is not exploding and i don't think anybody's is, he feels there's not a lot of reflations in there.

>> it looks like dick cheney has the one whose head is exploding. by the way i'm surprised he's taking a cheap shot. normally it's much more expensive like when he shoots his friend in the face. so cheap shots are much more unusual. >> martha: alan! >> he's a better guy, i'll shocked to hear that dick cheney is lashing out. it's all he's been doing since being vice president. i feel bad for him, he doesn't look well, perhaps he has health issues and maybe it's affecting his outlook. i actually feel bad for the guy. martha: do we have the vice president's sound as well, as well as colin powell's sound we can play? all right. okay, we just heard that one, though. we'll take a look at t. we'll get you more of this sound going in a second. angela, talk to me about your reaction to all of this. you know t. goes through a number of things in terms of vice president dick cheney's relationship with president bush, it talks about syria and when israel went after syria's nuclear plant, he says that that was an idea that he came forward with to

president bush at the time, that that idea was not received warmly in the administration, then israel turned around a few weeks later and did it. so it really details -- i mean, this man has a tremendous history in washington and it is going to be fascinating to look back at really three administrations that his life span, career, covers. >> martha, for anyone who's a political buff or a history buff, this book is a treasure, and it's 565 pages that talks about behind the scenes from the nixon administration, the ford administration, the first bush administration, then the former vice president concentrates on foreign policy, as you mentioned, and also national security. i think it's so sad that we have the legacy of this book already, cheap shots at khro*upb powell, condoleezza rice, george tenet. the bottom line is this, bush had great adviser, they weren't yes men, they were very knowledgable and they didn't all agree, so they agreed to disagree, and i think for powell and cheney to have this public

disagreement, it hurts the bush legacy, it hurts the republican party and it hurts the outreach of diversity for the party. there's really no win here except for alan! martha: i was waiting for alan, if you wouldn't mind waiting one second, we'll get your thoughts on that: >> he says that i went out of my way not to present my positions to the president, but to take them outside of the administration. that's nonsense. the president knows what i thought about every issue of the day. mr. cheney may forget that i'm the one who said the president bush -- it president bush if you break it, you own it. martha: yeah, you know, you can't listen to all of this back and forth without remembering, you know, that testimony in front of the united nations, and khro*upb powell says in this interview that he did over the weekend on "face the nation" that that was a difficult thing for him, and that he learned later that he went out there with information that wasn't completely accurate. so you know, you wonder how much of all of that, the leadup to the iraq war, sort of wedged a divide between state and between defense, as you look the a the course

of all of this. >> we're all aware of what colin powell said when he spoke before the united nations, giving information that turned out not to be true and he really took a hit. he took one for the team on that one, because for dick cheney to come forward and said he did this outside the administration, it's demonstrably untrue based on historical fact. dick cheney is looking to burn his legacy sadly at the expense of other people who are good public servants and i thought powell took the high road on "face the nation" when he says he has a distinguished career and he didn't take shots back, which is good for colin powell. >> by saying he was condescending to condoleezza rice, he didn't take the high road, both of them didn't, by cheney saying that colin powell is not a republican anymore, that's bad. martha: angela, thank you very much. dick cheney said he was cheerful and that's why he said it, he was just stating the fact -- said that they was tearful, he was just stating the facts. bill in a moment we'll talk to house majority leader

eric kantor, don't miss that, moments away.

>> you have people, they fall into a -- into a mon hole and go down into the sewer system and they're not going to survive that. bill tpwha*eul is one of the reasons why so many officials are telling you to stay home. we talked to the mayor of philadelphia, around this time yesterday. michael nutter. he said you're looking at record, if not greater than record, flooding throughout the areas of philadelphia already. now, rick leventhal is watching that, he's live in new hope, pennsylvania. that's right near the tkeldz river. behind you, rick, how is it looking today? >> reporter: well, bill, it's definitely well over its banks. we're about a foot above flood stage and locals tell me we're eight or 9 feet above where this river would

normally be, but the good news, the expectations are the flooding won't be quite as bad as they first thought. despite that, they are still issuing evacuation orders for anyone who lives in low lying areas, not just here in new hope, but also, in easton, also on the delaware river. you can see how fast the water is moving here. if you just look at any object, one of the branches or tree limbs that's floating down the river, it's really moving along pretty fast, and if you look across the river, you can see where a lot of folks have gotten cameras out and are taking pictures of this. it's clearly a tourist attraction alongside the lamberville bridge in the town of new hope. they have shut down local stores and traffic on main street in town. in fact, only locals and business owners are allowed in. but there's no power here on main street. and they're concerned that the water will threaten some of these homes and businesses here. so they have told people to pack up your belongings in you -- if you live in low lying areas, put value

kwr-bls in pastic contain -- plastic containers, move furniture up to a higher level in your home, get your medicine and get out. that goes for not just here but easton, where today is supposed to be the first day of school. they canceled classes to folks can concentrate they're safe. bill: you spent the weekend in thoracic city, new jersey, you're well out of there now. how far are you from philadelphia. >> i guess it's about 40 minutes from philly. bill: are you across river? >> we are upriver from philadelphia, yes. bill: rick, we'll northbound touch all day, okay? rick leventhal on the delaware there. martha. martha: well, northern new england was unprepared for a torrential tropical downpour. look at what they got, though. >> it's a monster. that's usually a gentle stream. you can es-- that you could easily walk across. martha: it is not a gentle stream today and don't try walking across it. what happens when millions of gallons of water come

streaming down the sides of towering peaks in vermont? the man who shot this video is going to be here in a minute, tell us what it was like from his vantage point. bill: look at this. this tree must be 100 years old, one of our viewers sending it by way of you report at fox news.com, that massive tree top ling a home in middleton, connecticut, some of the most com pemming images are coming from you, frankly, at home. this is from regalsville, pennsylvania, keep those pictures coming, you report, foxnews.com, and check those out online. martha: that says "irene needs an attitude adjustments". bill: yes, and she's going to get one! back in a moment. ♪

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martha: pockets of new jersey are dealing with massive, massive flooding today from irene, parts of the garden state, under five feet of water right now, small streams and drainage basins have turned into raging rivers, that are going down the street, mike tobin is in new jersey where there has been a huge house fire, also. how are things going there now? >> reporter: well, i can show you a little bit of good news, stress it is just a little bit of good news for people with the flooding off the river. you can see where the brick is different colors and shows you the flooding from the river here has been on its way down, but, most of the flooding in new jersey is from the passaic river and the passaic is expected to keep rising. for this period of time, anyway

and there is one guy who lost everything but is lucky to get away with his life. and that is how he feels this morning, james, a wall collapsed in his house and when the wall collapsed he decided to get his wife and two dogs out of the house and told the authorities at the time there was a gas leak, there was nothing they could do about it and ultimately it caught fire and the house exploded, in a ball of flames and james and his wife and two dogs are alive. i can show you pictures from boomton, new jersey, and that is a little town, 22 miles north of new york city, and the store fronts are under water and e the flooding is by the rockaway river, setting records, and they've never seen water that high and talking with refts around here, many say they got the word they had to get out, 5:00 a.m., and people put their belongings up on tables thinking that that would keep their belongings dry and they look back at their houses, if they can get a look at them and the flooding is up to the second floor and these people think

they lost everything. martha? martha: boy, what a tough situation. you know, you had everybody prepared along the new jersey shoreline and all the other shorelines, but, inland, people just did not expect they were going to get what we got. mike, thank you so much. mike tobin, reporting from new jersey. bill: and a bit more from vermont. the green mountain state is rarely saturated like this. the man who shot all of the videotape is bryce levon cushing and he joins us now and we'll keep showing your video up here, bryce. you lived through this. what were you seeing with the camera? uma: we >> well the water started filling our yard and basement and it was noticeable, there was nowhere for the water to go and we check out the river and i stood on top of a walking bridge i got off of and a minute later the bridge was gone and quickly the water rose and, these small stream became torrents of water.

bill: the bridge, was that one the of the ancient covered bridges there? built in the 1870s? >> it was part of the recreational center here, and it was a walking bridge. bill: i see, because three historic bridges were wiped out on the williams river and what a shame to lose that. >> yes. bill: your basement is flooded, your art studio is flooded. is anything dry? >> several -- a lot of the structures, the oldest in vermont is here and, that is fine, and, along the river you have the buildings damaged an destroyed. bill: i bet. it must have been a sight to see, standing there, bryce. >> it was incredible. once in a lifetime kind of experience. bill: you are right. because the national weather service says this is the top weather related disaster in the history of the state of vermont. did you know that? >> yes, the bridges and the whole area, there is no... we

are here without people being able to access the town and there is no media coverage and i want to say the townspeople have really come together and there is no loss of life in our village and all the animals are also safe and that is an incredible thing. bill: i bet. i bet. how will you get things back to normal? have you talked to your neighbors? or family members? what are they telling you? >> i have been dealing with a lot of the media. and i am the contact for them right now and i'll go out an assess more of the damage and the community is coming together, and that is indicative of what we do in vermont, meeting in town hall and we'll go forward. they are out with heavy machinery, to clear the roads and i'll shoot the video later, a lot of the roads are gone. bill: you are trying to make sure vermont is not forgotten in all of this in. >> well, i am documenting it for history. because, there is no way for people to get in here to document any of this. it is an historical moment and i think it needs to be captured just for preservation.

bill: bryce, good luck to you. >> thank you very much. bill: by way of scape up there in grafton, vermont. thank you, bryce. >> thank you very much. bill: all right, martha? >> good job. all of the technology allows people to do that and take on the mission on their own and he's doing just that and here's another man who has taken on a big mission and he says he knows what is killing jobs in the country, he's house majority leader eric cantor and he'll speak to us moment from now and will unveil his top ten list of what he thinks is hurting jobs in our country. he will join us, right after this break. do not miss it. we'll be right back. hey, the new guy is loaded with protein! really? 25 grams of protein. what do we have? all four of us, together? 24. he's low fat, too, and has 5 grams of sugars. i'll believe it when i--- [ both ] oooooh... what's shakin'? [ female announcer ] as you get older, protein is an important part of staying active and strong. new ensure high protein... fifty percent of your daily value of protein. low fat and five grams of sugars. see? he's a good egg. [ major nutrition ] new ensure hh protein.

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pantene said, "breakage and split ends?" [ female announcer ] try pantene breakage to strength. the pro-v system helps prevent then repair split ends. zero fear of breakage, 100% more strength. pantene. martha: eric cantor revealed today his list of what he believes are the top ten things regulations out there, that are killing business and destroying job creation in the united states of america but this morning, folks, the focus is also here, in the state of virginia. a lot of residents are wearing

up to flooding, storm damage and wonder where the help will come from to get it fixed up and will that help come in part from the federal government and how much responsibility does the federal government have, especially given that we are $14.6 trillion in debt in this nation already. big question that are on the table this morning. glad to be joined by eric cantor, good morning, sir, good to have you. >> good morning, good to be here. martha: we watched this incredible hurricane throughout the course of the weekend. wreak havoc on so many states from north carolina to your home state, in virginia. which we're looking at pictures of, right now. all the way up to vermont. and, throughout the course of the weekend, we heard from the governor of almost every one of those states, and the underlying message in asking -- is they will be needing emergency funds from the federal government. what do you think about that? given our state of affairs right now? >> well, you know, listen, there is no question that the people of the commonwealth of virginia have been through an awful lot over the last week, as you recall, the epicenter of that

earthquake was actually in central virginia, my district, with significant damage and on the heels of that we had hurricane irene and this is time and an appropriate instance where there is a federal government role and the governor today is out surveying the damage, especially in the low-lying areas in the hampton roads area of the state and we will find the money. if there is a need for additional money. but, where we are martha, is those monies are not unlimited and what we have said is we have offset that which has been funded and in fact the house of representatives passed a bill already and sent it over to the senate in which there is over a billion dollars in disaster relief money, that is paid for. and, in fact, we said this was a priority, and, we'll find other places to save so we can fund

this kind of role the federal government needs to play but the senate has not acted and hopefully the senate will come back to washington and pass the bill. martha: but, obviously, you know, given your background and everything you have said you believe any federal money that comes out for hurricane irene needs to be met dollar for dollar with spending cuts? >> the house acted and funded a billion dollars for additional disaster relief money and that money has been offset by savings elsewhere. and, again, like any family would operate when it is struck with disaster. it finds the money it needs to take care of a sick loved one or what have you, and, then goes without trying to buy a new car or put an addition onto the house. i mean, that is the kind of situation we are finding ourselves in, at the federal level, for sure. and you know, taxpayers, you know, they are the ones funding the governor and unfortunately the government continues to borrow money, and, to spend money, it doesn't have. and, as you know, the last 7

months we've been trying to address the situation to turn the economy around but in instances like this, yes, there is a federal role and yes, we'll find the money and we are going to need to make sure that there are savings elsewhere to continue to do so, but at the end of the day, martha, the house has acted and we have appropriated the moneys and wait for the senate to act. martha: we've seen how it goes with most of the financial issues in the past and the senate does not act on it, so what would you do? people ma fema is under funded and the likelihood it will come from someplace that puts us deeper into debt would be pretty good, right? >> listen, the president will get involved here, too, and has responded to the governor's request for a declaration of the state of emergency in virginia and other east coast states are in the same spot but the president, in working with the senate need to act and need to

meet the will of the people of the country, and go ahead and fund these disaster relief monies, if they are needed and, that is just plain and simple as it is and people need help out there and there is an appropriate role for the federal government to address that. martha: and they need help in terms of jobs and that is no surprise and you have a list of what we think -- and, people say regulations are the most onerous part of their ability to do business and you have a specific list of ten things you think are the worst of the worst in terms of these regulation that you put out today, tell me about that. >> we're dealing with two crises in the country, there is a federal debt crisis caused by decades of mismanagement from a fiscal policy standpoint, and other decisions that have been made and we have begun to address that, over the last half a year. and have a very critical jobs and growth crisis and what we're

looking to do as we return to washington next week is to focus on how we stop the federal government from making it so difficult for small business people to create jobs because after all the middle class is suffering and the best anecdote to troubles, economically now is to make sure people have enough work and that is what the list is having to do with is to make sure we stop the federal government from making it too difficult for people to begin to grow again and whether you are talking about the national labor relations board which made decisions, that stopped companies from -- begin to try and stop companies from relocating or expanding in states they choose to create new jobs or the epa which has been on a rampage making it more difficult for small businesses, for manufacturers, to deal with added costs, so they can create

jobs -- >> we have a last i want to put up... >> to make it easier for small businesses to grow. martha: sorry, congressman, let's put the list up, so people can get a look at this. talking about the south carolina decision. for boeing, was the first one and then you go, list by list, specifically through a number of epa regulations and, obviously it comes on the heels, congressman cantor, of last week, the president said they were cutting regulations and would help take the leashes off of business in this country and they were going to save companies $10 billion, basically, in the regulations they cut, and not on their list were any of these epa regulations and that doesn't come as a big surprise. >> right. and this list comes from the small business folks across the country, people i represent in the richmond area tell me all the time. it is too hard for me to grow my business, and i can hardly keep the lights on, much less begin to think about hiring people again. and we have to listen to those

voices, small business people are having trouble accessing capital. and are having trouble with the added regulations coming from washington and having trouble when they hear a president who wants to raise taxes, in a time where we have got 9% unemployment -- >> but, congressman -- >> it doesn't make sense, we have to come together and unite behind the notion we want to grow, we want to put in place policies that help small businesses grow, that help the middle class regain their confidence that america will be a place for them -- >> let me ask you this. >> our kids to have work. martha: if i may, your lists are completely different, obviously, the administration came out with a list they think will help regulation and you came out with a list that is different. and we'll get a jobs number, next friday that is the already anticipated to possibly be a negative number for the first time in quite some time. and the american people will look to you, and they'll look to the administration and say, you guys need to stop coming up with completely different lists and figure out a way to work together to get jobs growing in this country. what would you say to that? >> well, listen, i think the

administration has sort of already demonstrated that it is not interested in focusing on private sector growth. the record has been, thus far, in this administration, of continued expansion of government, continued grabs, trying to tell people who want to go out and invest and create a profit, that maybe they have done so and done enough already, and we need to take that money and put it elsewhere. what our list demonstrates is, washington now has gotten in the way. and, we have got to make it easier, finally, for small business people, to grow. and, yes, the lists are different because, frankly, there is a divide in washington about what the country should be. we are about trying to reclaim the american dream. that is what small business people and entrepreneurs are all about in america and that is why we have been so successful. because, we believe that people should have a right to go and earn their success.

they should have equal opportunities to do so. and the government cannot con ter success or victory on anyone. and, that is where our list comes from and i'm hoping that we can all come together and the president will join us in finally implementing a meaningful regulatory reform program, not pay lip service to us when we say that we are -- >> congressman cantor -- >> trying to address these difficulties. martha: thanks for being with us today. we'll take a quick break and we'll be right back. they steam and bake the actual whole grain while the otr guy's flake is more processed. mmm. great grains. the whole whole grain cereal. or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

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bill: watch carefully, here on the screen, the end of this road. that is a bridge what was built in 1870. gone. a covered bridge, carried away by the floodwaters in the states of vermont, one of three

historic bridges, that are no longer. susan hammond wants -- susan, are you out there. >> caller: i am, yes. i live just up the road. bill: did you have a hunch the bridge is going go or why did you have the camera out there at the time. >> caller: they'll neighbors were watching the river rise all afternoon long and i had been down several times, and, saw the water get quite close to the bridge, a couple of hours before that, trees were coming down, the river and smashing the bottom of the bridge, and scraping by and i thought a tree would take it down. but, the water just kept rising. to historic heights. bill: did you grow up in vermont? >> caller: i did. bill: i hear from people who lived there and grew up like yourself and you had so much pride in these covered bridges. >> caller: oh, yeah, it is what people come to vermont to see. but it is also a part of our community. part of our little village. bill: a landmark, right? or it was.

any chance that you can rebuild a bridge like this? >> caller: it has been done before and we are hoping that will be the case. it will be obviously quite expensive to replace it. but, that is what all of the villagers want to happen. we're a very, small, small village of 20 houses and is basically a country road. bill: i heard you on camera there, give out a gasp. >> caller: yes. bill: what was the feeling like? it must have been like a punch in the gut to you? >> caller: it really was, though we knew it would happen, it was creaking just before it went down, which is why i turned my video on at that particular time. i was a bit far away from it and there was a power line and we were afraid it would come down on us. and according to my neighbor who lived across the river watched it float down for fight a while floating underneath another covered bridge further down

the river. bill: susan, thank you for your time. we're out of time, susan, by telephone in vermont. irene. martha: we are awaiting an announcement from the president, from the white house rose garden, he is set to name his new chief economic adviser. we'll be right back.