warning about more possible layoffs right around the corner. or z corner as we hike to say! martha: good morning! bill: we say that with a smile on our face, somehow. i'm bill hemmer, how you doing martha? >> martha: doing well, good morning, everybody. this is a new headache for the obama administration because they're struggling to create new jobs for america, now you've got this latest round of unemployment numbers that is really a big disappointment as the president tries to go out across the country and tout this latest jobs plan. bill: and the big concern today, we've talked about this, the possibility we're head fod a new recession. stuart varney, fox business network, good morning. >> good morning, bill. bill: first on the jobs, break down the number from last hour. >> look, 428,000 new claims for unemployment benefits last week. that's a very big number. it is partly kp-p dollars away by irene, hurricane irene, which subdued economic activity, and it was in part responsible for this big number. it's also a very bad number, and that 400,000 figure, the

jobless claims number is staying stubbornly above that number. you combine that jobless claims report with another report which shows manufacturing in the northeast contracting a business more, and you've got a picture of an economy which is at dead stop, and the trend is indeed towards a contraction, that is recession. bill: we talked about that, and many people think we're already back in that recession, but that debate continues. now, on green jobs, there's a new survey out. what does it tell us about how the government tried to boost this industry, right? >> green jobs, very much at the center of the president's recovery effort and figures from the energy department show that that $38 billion program to encourage green phoeuplt has so far, after two full years, produced only 3545 new permanent green jobs. that is it. now, if the program were completely successful and produces all of the 60,000

jobs it is supposed to produce, then each of those jobs would come at a cost of $640,000 apiece. bill: that's all taxpayer dollars. >> yes it is. bill: that's solar power, that's electric cars. >> wind power, throw it in, renewable, green energy jobs. that's it. three thousand five hundred forty-five jobs, two years into a program, with $19 billion of the $38 billion already spent. that is a terrible number. bill: shake your head. we'll see you at 9:20, fbn, i'm sure you have more to say about this. >> oh yeah. bill: martha has more. martha: to understand the situation we're in we need to show you what a healthy economy would look like so you have perspective on these numbers. as we just said, 428,000 people, there's the number, for last week, went into an unemployment office and filled out the forms for the very first time in this union. according to the cbo, congressional budget office, the unemployment rate needs

to fall below consistently under 375,000, that's the number that it looks like, and you've got a healthy economy. it has been above 400,000 for 157 out of the last 165 weeks, so a very long time. so how far do we need to go to get back to prosperity in this country and be on the right track? unemployment, there's the big number now, 9.1%, we'll get another number at the beginning of october. according to the cbo it needs to be 6 percent, consistently, to be considered a healthy economy. now, we've been over 9 percent, for 26 out of the last 28 months. it's a pretty rough picture. bill: indeed t. and martha, as we look at that information this morning, we have new poll numbers out, too. the white house paying close attention to this, the latest quinnipiac poll out of virginia, 64 percent disapprove of the president's performance, down 8 percent from the similar survey only in june. back in 2008, 53 percent of virginia voters voted for

the president, he was the first democrat to win the state of virginia since lyndon jan on-- johnson did it way back in 1964. martha: how about this? sarah palin out for a slice of new york pizza, $2 for a slice for pizza in new york. last night, donald trump took rick perry out for a very nice dinner. >> how did it go? >> very good. >> he knows his restaurants. martha: trump knows his restaurants! no word on whether or not this means the real estate mogul plans to endorse rick perry for the republican nomination. meanwhile, people are talking about rick perry's speech last night. it was very interesting, a very spiritual speech, it focused on his christian faith and how he came to that faith in his life, how that will play in his run for the white house is something we're going to talk about coming up. bill: trump is the gate keeper, huh? he ought to go on with that

cooking show! come to new york and see trump. meanwhile, mitt romney taking a shot at rick perry and his comments on social security, romney talking to a large group of senior, taking the texas governor to task for calling that program a ponzi scheme. here's the former governor on that. >> social security is not a ponzi scheme. [applause] >> social security has worked for 75 years, pretty darn well. you guys have not taken advantage of social security you contributed to it. it's a savings plan, a pension plan. there are no bad guys in social security. so i don't call it a ponzi scheme. is it financially in trouble down the road? absolutely. and are we going to need to change the structure somehow to make it work for the next generation? yeah. >> bill: in arizona, social security is a big topic, in florida, too. mitt romney advising his pick for vice president will be a tea partier. since he was in arizona

talking about illegal immigration, promising to finish that fence along the border, something he mentioned in that debate of monday night this past week. martha: not far away from phoenix, mich ul bachmann courting the toughest sheriff, she met with joe arpio, her views echoing romney and the sheriff's own very tough stance on this. listen to this. >> we're going to be talk a -- talking about the problems on the border. as president of the united states i want to solve the border issue, i want to build the fence that needs to be built and solve this problem, from all of the states, not just arizona, from texas to california, new mexico, arizona, this is an ongoing, continual problem, but it doesn't just affect the border, it affects other states as well martha: so as you know, sheriff arpaio has developed a real national reputation for his tough treatment of immigrants who cross into america illegally.

he's received recent calls, as -- as a lot of folks have, from mitt romney, rick perry called him to see how he was doing as well but the campaign manager says the sheriff is going to take his time thinking it over before he decides who he's going to endorse. bill: you stop in new york to see trump, arizona to see the sheriff. senator rand paul is here, his ideas on jaws, his idea on how his father is doing, ron paul running for president, the senator from kentucky weighs in on that in moments. also do not forget this, fox news teams up with google, hosting a republican debate in orlando, one week from today, september 22, and you can submit questions for the candidates. here's how you do it. foxnews.com, scroll down to the spotlight section, click on our debate area, there's the link to submit your question, you can follow video, and you click on that ask a question tab, and we're taking all your questions, getting in some great ones, too, so while you're watching us this morning, think about that. foxnews.com. martha: all right. so fighting words, secretary of defense leon panetta

warning the u.s. ally pakistan, stamp out your terrorist safe havens or we will come and do it for you. very tough talk coming after a deadly 20-hour assault on the u.s. tpwhepl afghanistan that the u.s. says was launched from inside pakistan. peter doocy is working on this story for us, he's live in washington. so what exactly did secretary panetta say about all of this, peter? >> he said that we're going to do everything we can to defend our forces, american troops keep being attacked by insurgents based in pakistan like the haqqani network, tied to al-qaeda and was assaulting the u.s. embassy in kabul, for 20 hours before retreating to their safe haven and the s-bgtd isn't going to stand by and let that happen, he said on a military aircraft flying towards san francisco yesterday, his exact exact quote, i'm not going to talk about how to respond, we're not going to allow these types of attacks to go on.

even though he wouldn't talk about a specific response, drones have been hitting pakistan where these s-rpblgts are based more and more lately and something that panetta did say is that he pleaded with pakistan to go after the haqqanis but they just haven't done enough to stop him so he's floating the idea of having our guys going in and taking care of business themselves and pakistan is paying close attention because they're reportedly seeing that american forces came into their country to take out bin laden back in may, martha. martha: very interesting. we're starting to get a sense of leanne panetta in his new position. what did he say about how he feels the afghans will handle it, to take care of themselves militarily once we're gone? >> reporter: there was a question about whether or not there was some concern from the americans about whether or not this 20 hour long attack would possibly make us have second thoughts or some concern, but he said that overall the afghan response to that 20 hour long assault was good and even though five afghan police officers were killed secretary panetta says

violence in afghanistan is on a downward slope and the taliban is getting weaker and weaker. martha: all right, let's hope so, peter, thank you very much. peter doocy in d.c. bill: all right, some of the stories we're watching already this morning. there is more to come, including this, a pleasure cruise that turns into an absolute nightmare, breaking news on the luxury liner that caught fire at least are dead because of it. and -- >> martha: you know what, he says he's no hero but marine dakota meyer ran straight into a hail of gunfire, saving 36 of his brothers in afghanistan, and today, he will become the first living marine to receive the medal of honor. this is a wonderful, amazing story, folks. stay tuned for more on that. bill: job well done. the white house under fire for approving this massive government loan to a solar energy company, when they were warned it was in danger of going belly up. well, starting this morning, congress will ask its own questions about that matter. >> this is an incredible

organization you worked for. no one in the federal government is responsible for half a trillion -- half a billion dollars of taxpayers' money, this is phenomenal. what do you do for a living?

martha: take look at this. there was chaos at the southern border. look at that massive, gaping hole, nine people hurt when the roof of that canopy collapsed. it was a wooden platform and the debris crushed 15 cars, trapping the people inside. luckily, many of those victims were able to scramble out on their own and we're told that none of their injuries amazingly were life-threatening. bill: again, reaction this morning to president obama from a republican senator, unhappy with that new jobs proposal. here is kentucky senator rand paul with a challenge for the white house: >> i have a message for the president. if you're for job creation, you can't be against the job creators. i've got another message for the president. we've got a bill that will

help slidfy half a how jobs in south carolina. pass it now. if you want to be in favor of jobs, pass this bill now. bill: that's the sensor from yesterday referring to boeing's battle in charleston, senator rand paul, member of the tea party caucus, with me now. how you doing senator? >> very good, good to be with you. bill: what's your idea? not just in south carolina but for the country? >> the thing is, we've had a republican jobs plan that's been out there for about two months, all 47 republicans signed on to it, and the president acts as if because he's now got a plan that we're supposed to accept his plan as a compromise, that the compromise is we accept his plan. really, compromise means he comes and listens to us. he came and gave a campaign speech to us and we listened to him, now he needs to listen to us. we think he should balance your budget, that would send an enormously good esemergency -- good message to the marketplace and the economy will begin to recover when it shows we're

going to be responsible for our bills, we think we should have a regulatory moratorium, no new regulations. i think we should repeal regulation each week, until the economy recovers. i think instead of bashing corporations and bashing american business, he needs to say that he's going to make the bush tax cuts permanent, so we don't threaten to take and raise these taxes on businesses. and overall, he needs to try to be friendly to american business, instead of giving this rhetoric that appears as if he is opposed to american business. bill: based on what's been happening so far, your ideas sound like a tall mountain to climb for this white house. and the jobs plan seems like it's dead on arrival for so many senators. i've got a list of 12, 11 of whom are democrats, one independent, joe lieberman, they've got all kinds of issues with this,gen toroo sen to webb of virginia is against the tax increases, senator landrieu of louisiana is against the oil company tax subsidies.

you're not alone. which leads to the question, is it dead on stphreufl. >> well, see, the thing is, it's not the way it should work. it's not that the president gets to tell us pass this now, these are my requesteds -- ideas and you pass all of them now or you're irresponsible. our message to him is we have a jobs plan, why don't you come and listen to us, and then why don't we have a meeting in the middle somewhere where we can agree to some things, but that doesn't come from him giving us this imperious pass this now, it comes from him listening to us and listening to the taxpayers, listening to the job creators. bill: i apologize for the interruption, but it seems the white house -- there a crack in that right now because there are indications they may be willing to reach some sort of compromise to get the deal done. do you believe this is a make or break moment for this presidency? >> i think so. and i think they're starting to sense that their regulations that they keep

heaping on us are killing jobs. the obama administration gave us $10 billion worth of new regulations just last month, this year, over $60 billion of new regulation, but this past week, they backed off on one and we're going to try to start counteracting these regulations. american businesses are frightened of their own government. that's the problem. he needs to reassure american businesses that he wants american businesses to invest in new jobs, we need to get the government out of deciding who the winners and losers are. them deciding that their buddies in some solar company deserve half a billion dollars, that's a mistaken philosophy. that's the government choosing the winners and losers. we need to let the consumer choose the winner and losers. bill: right now, there are eight men and women trying to get his job, one of whom is your father. here is a question from the other night about taxes in texas. listen here, i'll get you to react. >> congressman paul, you're in texas. does your governor deserve all that credit? >> not quite.

[laughter] >> i'm a taxpayer there. my taxes have gone up. our taxes have doubled since he's been in office. our spending has gone up double. our debt has gone up nearly triple. so no. and 170,000 of the jobs were government jobs. so i would put a little damper on this, but i don't want to offend the governor, because he might raise my taxes or something! >> bill: he's got a terrific sense of humor. the problem is he doesn't have a whole lot of support right now. he's at # percent. how is dad doing, senator? >> well, you know, i thought that was one of his best moments in the debate, really, and interestingly, depending upon the polls, some have him as high as 15 percent, routinely he's third in the polls, although often they're trying to make it a two person race or four person race and excluding him. he's actually scoring third in almost every one of the polls, he was stat -- statistically tied withbackman for the straw poll in iowa, so i think he's doing quite well, and i think there really is a ron paul wing to the party now.

he's brought a very intelligent discussion to a lot of things that really people were not thinking through before. bill: he thinks his time is arriving now. we'll see. senator, thank you for your time. rand paul, the son, speaking on behalf of the father this morning. thank you. >> thank you. bill: all right, martha. martha: imagine this, $2 billion, gone, like that. a young trader at a major company is under arrest, how this happened and with banks across this country stressed already, what it could mean for us. bill: nasa calling this america's next big bold step into space. is it? a rocket that promises to take you to mars? some say that's not the whole story. astronaut tom jones is here to tell us what's up.

martha: well, nasa is taking a giant leap into the future, the space agency introducing the rocket design that promises to take american astronauts back into space, into deep space this time over the next 30 years, including in the plan is a trip to an asteroid, and also, the much talked about over this many years, a trip to mars on something that looks like that. it is pretty amazing. nasa chief charles bolton says that the so called space launch system meets the challenges laid out by president obama in terms of a applicable-private partnership and paying for it, despite the fact that we're at least six years away from seeing an actual rocket and the program's $35 billion price tag. >> president obama has challenged us at nasa to be

bold and to dream big and that's exactly what we do. >> we are going to continue to be the world's leader in finding out what are the capabilities out there that we haven't even discovered yet. martha: former astronaut and fox news contributor tom jones, offer of planetology joins me. good to see you. >> thank you for having me on. martha: great to have you. we talked about this plan years ago and this was always the idea that after the shuttle was finished, they would work on a rocket that would really go further than that, and that would go to mars as well. is this what was always envisioned? >> i think it's a restart of the effort that was underway under the constellation program that president obama canceled in 2009. that always had a big cargo rocket to help people get to the moon, now this cargo rocket has been sort of transforward and reimagined so that it can help astronauts get beyond the space station out to a nearby asteroid, maybe to the moon and eventually to

mars. it's a good step forward in announcing a design, then we have to deal with the questions of whether or not it can be paid for. martha: that is one of the big questions and the president has said it needs to be a applicable-private partnership to pay for this. how do you think that's going to go? >> i think that we're going to have trouble sustaining any program that, like this one, lasts for about ten years and then doesn't deliver anything as we get ready for this first crew flight. nasa announced yesterday that the first crew wouldn't fly on this new rocket until about 2021, almost ten years from now, so that's the difficulty. i think the schedule should be more aggressive so there are earlier milestones. we should have people riding on this rocket by 2017 or 2018 at the latest so that we can see progress and the longer you wait before you deliver results the harder it is to keep it sustained in congress. that's just the political reality. mash minister as joan pike from global security.com points out, he's also a space walker, four presidential elections away is the math on this, and he's worried that it will lose steam that, it will never happen and we'll spend

$45 billion on a dream that doesn't get realized. >> nasa has a long history of starting up new programs, beginning back in the late '80s, national aerospace plane, then the venture star, after that, there was the x38 crew return vehicle, all were canceled because they stretched out and didn't deliver results. they were too technologically advanced and thus couldn't be realized and nasa had to cancel them because of funding. that's the danger here. and i think nasa is to be commended for producing this design but i think they should be more aggressive and get some white house and congressional support to move faster. this isn't done in a vacuum. chinese have said they want to be on the moon by 2020, and if we just take our sweet time like this and realize that this rocket may be canceled if it doesn't show significant progress we might wind up being surpassed very quickly in other technological leadership in space. martha: there are # thousand jobs expected to -- expected to be lost in florida

because of the shuttle program closing down, so this may be an effort to keep those people working, but i understand what you're saying, you'd like to see this be part of a program that can see this plan through to space. and we appreciate that, tom. thank you very much. >> you're welcome, martha. bill: 28 minutes past the hour now, and she vanished almost two years ago. is her family now one step closer to learning what happened to this missing mother? a possible new lead in that case. we'll tell you about that. martha: plus, this is a very hot story, folks. the treasury department is now investigating half a billion dollars in taxpayer money that went to federally backed loans for a green company that is on the brink of bankruptcy. -- is now in bankruptcy. now lawmakers are blasting federal officials for playing games with taxpayer cash. >> i hear you're throwing all your staff under the bus. i want to know, you're in charge, you handled loans of this size, now you're saying it's everybody else's fault but you, except you're in charge. you tell me what you as a person in charge did with

half a billion dollars of taxpayers' money, now saying it's all my staff's fault, i didn't know, i can't do anything about it. you tell me what you're going to tell the taxpayers.

bill: hundreds of passengers escape a burning cruise ship and at least two are dead, nine just, some evacuated on life boats. laura ingle is in our new york city newsroom chasing this fire. good morning. >> reporter: we have brand

new information for you. i just talked with a spokesperson for the cruise ship operator who told me the fire broke out of the ms nordlis around 9:20 local time and it's under control but how it started is unknown, the ms nordliss had 260 people on board when the blaze began and was evacuated shortly after it caught fire. no passengers were injured in this incident. the norwegian operator of the ship confirms the two who died were crew members, and right now, they say six crew members are still being treated at a local hospital for burns and smoke injuries. earlier reports that are there were some people missing have been dismissed. everyone is now accounted for. the ship was evacuated just before it arrived in alison, which is northwest of oslo, more than 100 passengers were evacuated into life boats before the ship reached the port, the others were able to get off the ship when they got to land

with smoke billowing in the sky. the ship has the capacity to hold up to 691 passengers when it's full so it's going to be a much more challenging evacuation this morning. bill: so this is norway, now. what happens to all those evacuated passengers? >> well, it turns out they're going to have a choice, we are told the passengers can is the advantage their seven-day -- salvage their seven-day vacation if they want to and jump aboard one of the other cruise ships that operate in the area. while they decide if they want to do that they are being taken care of at hotels near the port. if passengers want to go home the cruise operator will give them another trip in the future. bill: thank you for track thank down out of norway here in our newsroom in new york. >> reporter: thanks. martha: well, the the treasury department is now launching its own investigation into a $535 million government loan to a solar power company. you're looking live at the

senate energy confirmation hearing where the scandal surrounding solyndra is expected to dominate the day right now. lawmakers at a house meeting, already blasting energy department officials over committing all that taxpayer money to what money are -- many are now saying they knew was a losing enterprise. listen to this exchange yesterday: >> who was it that decided that, made the decision, that this act passed as law, was not going to be adhered to? >> it was by legal counsel. >> so you have no response, so we're throwing him under the bus? >> i rely on counsel. >> we're throwing her under the bus, do, did the secretary of energy have anything to do with this decision, or is he under the bus, too? >> not to my knowledge. >> no one is responsible. this is an incredible organization you work for, no one in the federal government is responsible for half a trillion dollars of taxpayer money. this is phenomenon nam. what do you do for a living? if you don't know what's

happening, and everybody else is to blame, what do we go back and tell our constituents who have to work hard? martha: wow, that was some exchange at that hearing yesterday and there's more to come along those lines, we would imagine. christopher han joins me, former aide to senator chuck schumer and brad brad blakeman, deputy assistant to george w. bush. chris han, what do you make of all this? >> it's hard to defend and i'm not going to try to go in there and -- there was clearly a breakdown in communication, there were people in the administration who knew this was a bad bet, yet, it moved forward, so i'm wondering where that breakdown was. that said this loan program has been around since 2005, the loan was in process in 2008, they wanted to see some early results from the stimulus, so this was pushed through. but this goes to a broader question of what's going on in the political operation in the white house where they allow things like this to get through. i mean, if there's someone who knew this was a problem they should have been listened to in the meetings

in the white house but they weren't and this is the second time i've been on having to deal with an issue like this and i'm wondering what's going on in that regard. that said i want to see more investment in green energy and i know the republicans are going to demagogue and say listen, this shows we shouldn't be investing in it. that's wrong. we're going to make mistakes along the way, people need to be held accountable for those mistakes but we've got to move forward. martha: good points, chris. but this comes at the same time, brad blakeman, what's there's a page one story in the "washington post" and these are everywhere today, about this green jobs initiative, that $36 billion has gone into these programs to give money to these green jobs companies and 3500 jobs have come out of that, that's $640,000 for each job. so the big picture here is some people may be looking at this and saying what's solyndra, why do we care, and as you point out, chris, there's a lot of these programs out there, but it undermines the confidence in the people who are making these decisions about how this money is spent, and that comes at a very difficult time, because

peoples' -fd can is waneing in all of this, i think, brad. >> you bet martha. let me tell you this, this goes directly to the white house. when i was in the white house, i was charge of apwegt and research, we have a motto that we live by, sometimes the events we do -- the best events we do are the events we don't do. if we know there are loans outstanding to a company that the president has contact with, we don't check that loan once, we check it twice and three times, within the white house and agencies that are controlling that loan. martha: chris, you've been in that position. let me stay with you on this. what do you think happened? because there's a lot floating around, perhaps george kaiser, one of the big investors in this country -- company, who was also a big buttonedler for the obama administration, for the campaign, how does all this work? what can you say about that? do you think this -- does it matter he made all those visits to the white house, do you think there might be something to that? >> sure it matters. they tried to fix the facts to meet their message. and in this world, sooner or

later the facts are going to come out and all the good the president tried to do by visiting the company and championing green jobs has been lost on the fact that there's either incompetence or willful malfeasance on behalf the white house. the buck stops in this case at the white house. i know, i was there, any time the president is involved, the president's staff is involved in every step of the vetting and research to approve a presidential visit. martha: chris han, let's take a look at these quotes from a mark levin show yesterday from a woman when claims to be a solyndra employee. these people are unhappy because they've lost their jobs and felt they weren't told the whole truth, the whole truth, and here's what she said to mark levin, everyone knew the plant wouldn't work but they still did it, they still built it, basically they stole that money, she says, then it goes like this, obama flew out, he did an appearance out there and it goes on, let's show the rest of this quote, and mark levin asked the question, do you believe that the obama administration knew that it

wasn't feasible, this company, he means. oh, absolutely, she said. i wasn't high on the totem pole at all and even someone like me knew that. chris han, what do you stph-pbg. >> i don't know who this woman was, i don't want to respond to her baseless claims here. i think that the administration hoped this would work. i think that most people think if you put a half a billion dollars into a plant, you're going to get a little better return, but that said, there are things that have been -- that were shown to the people in the white house prior to this plant failing and prior to the president going out there that should have raised red flags. brad is right, i've been in this situation myself, working for senator schum er and for other people, where you have to say listen, we can't go here, it's too much of a risk. martha: what i'm hearing you from, chris han, is this raises concerns for you about how the whole operation is working. >> yeah, it does, it raises concerns for me of the political operation and want to know, you know, why people are not being listened to. this happened a week and a half ago with the

president's speech before congress where there was clearly people knew there was a republican debate that night and nobody was being listened to -- and somebody wasn't being listened to in those meetings who made the warning, the warning signs were there and they weren't made last week and they weren't made a year and a half ago with seoul i saidra and that raises a red flag as a democrat who's been in the room, saying okay, how could this hurt us if we go down this path and i want to know who is making those decisions and why people aren't being listened to. martha: we got to leave it there, thank you very much. brad blakeman, chris han, thank you for coming on. >> thank you for having me. bill: are you losing or winning today, america? right now we're doing okay, up 77 points on wall street, trading open for 11 minutes. apparently europe, the central bank over there is going to start departmenting -- helping out with the deep, deep debts. how deep is the hole over there, huh? we do not know. anyway, stocks responding favorably in the early going on wall street. we'll see how we do. martha: he says that americans should be guided by, quote, christian values, texas governor rick perry

spotlighting his faith on the campaign trail in a very broad sort of passionate way. so the question is, what kind of impact does that have on him as a candidate? bill: a great question. also, he risked his life to save friends and protect his country. the first living marine in 41 years to receive the medal of honor. dakota meyer says don't call me a hero. >> definitely not a hero. that's the furthest thing from the truth. >> we're either going to go in there or die trying, you know? and that's how it is, you know, that's your brothers in there.

martha: all right, let's get you a look at some of the headlines out there now "america's newsroom", general motors and chrysler, agreeing to another week of talks with the united auto workers union. last night, both missed a deadline to reach a deal covering 70,000 u.s. factory workers. they're going to have an extension on that. a massive brawl on the campus of southern illinois

university, up to 1000 students, streaming out of their dorms off a power outage. that's when police say the fights started breaking out. >> it got violent. there were many people just punching people. it wasn't even like anything. martha: that's not good. all right, so police say they're investigating that incident before they take any action. and san diego state, opening a new institute, dedicated to hanging -- looking at the global surfing industry. how about a master's in surfing? >> bill: i think they picked the right place, too, san diego. he is 23 years old and today he receives the nation's highest military award for bravery, retired marine dakota meyer saved 36 lives on a battlefield in afghanistan. meyer ran toward the gunfire, pulling both americans and afghan soldiers to safety. mike tobin sat down with this young american from the

state of kentucky. mike, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, bill. although dakota meyer understands the magnitude of receiving the congressional medal of honor he does not care for all of this attention. in fact he says he can only celebrate this recognition if every member of his team survived that ambush. >> from the battlefields of afghanistan, one marine's courage under fire earned him the nation's highest military honor, recognition dakota meyer does not feel he deserves. >> definitely not a hero. that's the furthest thing from the truth. >> gangeau valley, september 8, 2009, an army batallion supported by soldiers and marines was ambushed, corporal meyer requested by radio to go help them, he was ordered to stay back and disobeyed orders. >> we're either going to go in there or die trying, you snow and that's how it is, that's your brothers in there. >> reporter: meyer and staff sergeant rodriquez chavez rescued u.s. and afghan troops and provided

cover, allowing dozens to escape. they returned to the valley five times, searching for members of meyer's own team. when he found them, they were all dead. >> that's the worst feeling ever to -- you know, i went in there to bring those guys out alive, that was my mission and didn't bring them out alive, so i felt -- >> a lot of people would disagree with the notion of the characterization that he failed, the commander in chief among them. one of the perks of receiving the medal of honor, you get to have a beer with the colder in chief. they tipped one back in the rose garden last night. still, dakota is uncomfortable with the regular nicks. he says -- recognition. he says if he deserves it, all the young men and women deserve it. bill: how did he strike you when he sat down? >> he was very confident, particularly for a 23-year-old, he has a lot of network correspondents coming and going, making a fuss over him, he's very unimpressed with the people coming to talk to him. all he seems to care about

is getting the recognition to the rest of the guys that were out there fighting with them. bill: well told. that ceremony, by the way, starts around 2:30 eastern time, during megyn's show on "america live" and she'll have all that for you on the fox news channel later this afternoon. job well done. martha: look forward to that. on a much different note, they are back! remember white house crashers at the state house dinner? then they had a reality tv show. now the spotlight seeking couple -- do you think that's a stretch to call them a spotlight seeking couple? they're on a whole new journey, folks. stay tuned. bill: underline that phrase!

martha: there are possible new developments in the case of a missing utah mom, susan powell vanished nearly two years ago, now police have discovered some human remains while they were searching for her in the utah desert, her family says they are hoping for some answers soon. >> i'd rather they find her alive, and -- but if they find her body, then at least we know she's not with us anymore. and we can move along that way. so it's just waiting for the resolution. you can't -- people with people missing, or families with people missing, you don't sell your house, you don't leave, you don't do anything, because you're just hoping someday they'll show up. so it's just something that you deal with. martha: boy, poor man, and her family. so meanwhile, susan's husband, josh powell, is still being considered a person of interest in this

case. we're joined by rod wheeler with the d.c. homicide detective, also a fox news contributor. goodgood morning, nice to have you with us. >> good morning, martha. martha: the police have not scheduled a news conference on this, they don't know whether the remains they've found are a man or woman at this point. what are you read going this into far? >> one of the things i can definitely tell you and viewers is that the police have brought in a forensic anthropologist and what these individuals specialize in are examining human remains, bones, things of that nature and let me tell you, i've worked with these folks before and they do excellent work, they will be able to determine pretty quickly whether or not the remains is that of a humor animal and about how long these bones have been out in the wilderness where this woman's body was found, or i'm -- i'm saying it's her but we don't know yet if it's in fact her or the bones were found. the other thing that's very interesting about this case is that the police executed a warrant, martha, about a month ago, a search warrant at the home of josh powell's parents. now, it's very interesting,

because one month after executing that warrant, now, when they executed the warrant, they got computer, hard drives, all kinds of other evidence, now they find these bones, so there may be a correlation. i actually suspect that there is a correlation between that warrant and the fact that they found some bones less than a month later. martha: wow, that is very interesting. there were all kinds of accusations flying back and forth between these two families about some attraction that may have been between josh's father and susan powell, her family, completely shut down -- shot down that notion, they said they don't know where those accusations are coming from, from the other side there. one of the things that susan's father said of the area that they found in bones -- these bones would have been covered by ice and left sort of in the middle of a desert right on top of ice and snow. that's his opinion on this particular desert spot. what do you say about that? >> you know, that may in fact be true. we don't know that yet. but one other thing that's very interesting, pertaining to where the bones were

found, now, this was the exact same area in proximity where josh has already admitted he used to go collect rocks in this particular area. you know, is that a coincidence? no. is that evidence? yes. martha: we've got to go. thank you very much, good to have your insight. we'll see where this goes. bill: the white house is getting major pushback against president obama's plan and it's not from republicans. plus, this: >> um, no, i wouldn't do that. no. no. bill: that's a millionaire accused of killing his own wife, seen in a jailhouse video, dancing and laughing. the bizarre story and the murder trial that doesn't stop surprising. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made.

when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp...

medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you from paying up to thousands of dollars... out of your own pocket. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans... exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit... with all you need to enroll. put their trust in aarp medicare supplement insurance. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. the prices are competitive. i can keep my own doctor. and i don't need a referral to see a specialist. call now to get a free information kit. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. and the advantages don't end there. choose from a range of medicare supplement plans... that are all competitively priced. we have a plan for almost everye, so you can find one that fits your needs and budget. with all medicare supplement plans, there are virtually no claim forms to fill out.

plus you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare. and best of all, these plans are... the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp. when they told me these plans were endorsed by aarp... i had only one thing to say... sign me up. call the number on your screen now... and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan. you'll get this free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare, to help you choose the plan that's right for you. as with all medicare supplement plans, you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. martha: the white house is taking a little bit of friendly fire in recent days, the latest opposition to president obama's jobs plan appears to be coming from his own side, from democrats, on the issue. he's got members of his own

party, now, criticizing the american jobs act which he has said they must pass and must pass it now and we're hearing lawmakers are concerned about the plans to pay for the $447 billion bill. and, it is a lot of money and a lot of folks are asking a lot of question. that is how we start the brand new hour -- what is today, thursday morning. bill: it is thursday. >> "america's newsroom," 10:00 a.m. on the east coast, glad you are with us, i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer. good morning to you, martha. martha: good morning, bill. bill: that's correct. we have two corrects, jim webb, a democrat out of virginia said, "we should not increase taxes on ordinary income, there are other ways to get there." a democrat talking that way. martha: and talk about this: look at what mary landrieu is saying from louisiana, she's a democrat as well, of course and comes from the energy producing state of louisiana, where she's none too happy about the plan to help pay for the $447 billion bill by using basically -- relieving tax and oil subsidies

from producers in those commodities in her state. and she says that is not the way to go. hers her quote: "that offset is not going to fly and he should know that. maybe it is just for his election, which i hope is not the case. those are pretty song words. bill: two of the lawmakers, too and we have a list of a dozen, a dozen senators on the senate side alone, 11 of whom are democrats and one independent, joe lieberman have different issues with the jobs plan, either it is too conservative or too liberal and they are going through it now and rand paul is a tea party member on the senate side, who was with us last hour and believers it is a make or break moment, for the presidency. and, he expects, you know, if you want to get it passed, you have to make changes to the bill, and, there is some cracks right now, being shown to the white house and they may be forced to do just that. martha: it is an interesting take rand paul has on this, obviously he's a republican but it may be a make or break moment for the president. because he has staked a lot on the 447 billion dollar jobs bill

and he said, you must pass this immediately, david axelrod was out, in the recent days, saying, not only that, it can't be passed piecemeal. it has to be passed in its entirety and they've really upped the ante on the importance of passing the bill, and what it means for president obama's future, and, certainly, for his re-election as well and i know there are a lot of democrats who... chris stirewalt, fox news digital politics editor. chris, welcome. you have harry reid, basically, taking his sweet time on this and he says, well, you know, i have a number of other things on the agenda before we get to this and it will not happen until after next break and that is not the language the president is looking for? >> remember what the majority leader has, he has a bunch of democrats who are in vulnerable seats in red states and look across the country and see all of the democrats who are facing tough races and harry reid knows he cannot leave them dangling. martha: no doubt. what do you make of this, rand paul, when bill spoke to him, he

said i see this as a make or break moment for the president. and i find it very interesting that you have so many democrats, who are kind of keeping the whole jobs bill at an arm's length at this point. >> well, look at what happened in the special elections in nevada and new york this week, that is an indication to the president, and to his fellow democrats the gas is not in the tank, politically, now and the president has a good speech on the stump, out doing a swing state tour, but, doesn't have the political potency, right now, that he can be a ream threat to republicans. martha: one of the other question that is raised this morning, chris, about this and about harry reid's stance on it in particular, is that perhaps he's providing the president some cover. we're looking at these pictures, right now on the left-hand side of your screen, the president out trying to sell the jobs bill. maybe harry reid is assessing that obviously it is not going over too well even among their own folks and a little more time needs to happen, for the president to get out there and try and do pr and maybe that will help?

>> when you talk to the moderate democrats in the house and the senate there are parts of the plan they like, the extension of the unemployment benefits, and, the extension of the payroll tax cuts, for employers and workers. those things are pretty much noncontroversial and what the house will do is offering the president a pared down version of his own bill and the concern for harry reid is it will have substantial support from moderate democrats and his goal is to have the president save face by having the process become more complicated in the long run so it doesn't look like he is being rebut. martha: muddy the waters and see if they can put something together, chris, thank you, chris stirewalt in wash. bill: more economic news, talked about the jobs number a bit earlier. a shocking number of homes now, in the housing crisis, more default warnings, last month. 33% more people approached the brink of foreclosure in august than they did in the month of june, the highest number of mortgage default notices, in 9 months, and the largest monthly

increase in about four years. this is millions of -- as millions of americans are under water in their mortgages, meaning they owe more than their property is worth and an obama administration program that allows fannie mae and freddie mac to refinance certain loans helped fewer than 17% of the people that it was designed for. martha: and we're getting new word that your money isn't going as far as it used to, i'm sure that is a news flash for you, right? americans are paying more, for goods and services over the last month, everybody is talking about the rising costs, independently or in business, we are hearing about it so much as well, the labor department says the consumer price index ro rose .4, 0.04%, that is a big jump for the cpi and it jumped a little more the month before and among the increases, food prices, you go to the grocery store, everything costs more and it comes as an inconvenient time because we are squeezed with lack of jobs as well and energy costs are up, 1.2% and, this is

where everybody talked -- tops the list, food and internally, your two biggest sort of weekly expenditures. bill: rarely do you find the prices go the other way, once they go up, they stay there and the cost is paced on to you. we have, speaking of costs, shocking developments in the banking industry. one of the largest banks in the world saying that a single rogue trader is responsible for a stunning $2 billion in losses. fox business network's cheryl casone on this now, good morning to you. >> good morning, bill. bill: how did it happen? >> another rogue trader and we have seen it before with other european banks and we saw it with a bank that collapsed, and, we also this with a french bank, not long ago, jerome kerviel, and, this is a $2 billion loss and here's what we know about him and we are getting more detailses, the man is 31 years

old, and, a london-based trader and in march of '06 he was still a trainee at the bank, a young kid and according to facebook likes princess beatrice and, the hat show wore at the royal wedding and the title was director of ets and delta one trading and it means he didn't lose client money and want managing client money but lost the bank itself money, about $2 billion, and they are trying to get the numbers figured out. bill: they are blaming all of this on one guy? >> it can happen, i know. it can happen, bill. because, if he was to make unauthorized. like you take an extra hour at lunch and don't tell your boss about it. that is what he was doing, trading and not telling his bosses about it. he was making his transactions, without supervision. bill: can that have an impact on american investors? >> absolutely. absolutely. look at shares of ubs, the stock is down 10% in this country, it's the biggest bank in

switzerland and trades in the u.s. and has large operations here in this country and it is also going to affect other european banks, which as you know, is already under so much pressure because of the eurozone crisis and this is one more hit the europeans need but it will put pressure on a few of the banks and they'll probably have no profits for the third quarter. that is going to hurt a lot of professionals, out there. unfortunately. bill: thanks, we'll catch you in two hours on the fox business network. and, a decent day, up 134 points in trading. >> we're getting there. bill: thanks, we'll see you soon. martha? martha: have you heard this? she is 78 years old, a justice, on the supreme court of the united states, why ruth bader ginsburg was forced to jump out of a plane. we'll tell you what happened with that. bill: and rick perry putting jobs on the sideline at a major address in virginia. talking about his faith instead. how will that play in the republican nomination? we'll check into it.

martha: and, remember this lovely couple, the salahis, the white house party crashers, nobody figured out how they got in, yesterday, big drama for them, folks, he got on the phone, called police, and said she may have been kidnapped. >> my dispute spoke to her and she was fine and she said she didn't want to go home and she was where she wanted to be and we made attempt with the fbi and spoke to family and friends including her mother, and, hope to make more contact with her. but, no, i can't say where she has been over the last day. martha: somebody thinks they know where she has been... hanging out with a very famous '80s guitarist. bill: please, please tell! martha: could it get any weirder in we'll be right back.

confidence, with depend in color. now available in gray. looks and fits like underwear. same great protection. depend. good morning. great day.

martha: u.s. supreme court justice sliding to safety off an

airplane. the highest court's oldest justice, 78-year-old ruth bader ginsburg forced to use the emergency chute. the united airlines jet was bound for san francisco, and having a little bit of engine trouble and forced to land at dulles international airport, near d.c. and she was one of the 180 passengers, that had to be evacuated, oh, my goodness. not what you want to happen! she's fine, though. we're happy to report. bill: just imagine, imagine the story she can tell now! rick perry getting personal about his faith. in a serious way. the republican candidate putting talk about jobs on the sidelines of this event yesterday in virginia. instead, talking exclusively about his faith. >> america is going to be guided by some set of values. the question is going to be, whose values? and, david lane and i -- and i would suggest most of the people in this audience believe it is those christian values that this

country was based upon. don't fear the judgment of others or the uncertainty of the future. don't muzzle your voice, because you are young. paul wrote to timothy and he said, do not be ashamed of your youth. you have the right, like every american, to speak your mind. bill: it went from there for 20 minutes and byron york, chief political correspondent for the washington examiner and a fox news contributor, and byron, good morning to you. >> good morning, bill. bill: how does the talk about his overt faith affect his campaign, do you believe. >> a couple of things. this is kind of a common thing for candidates and presidents to do, bill clinton did it, jougeo bush did it and barack obama did it, tell your story, how you were a younger man with no direction in life and found faith and it commonly has been done and it was the commencement at liberty university, founded by jerry falwell, a religious

organization and, that said, he pushes the limits of open religiosity, especially with the religious event he helped organize and participated in last month in texas and this is going to be probably an issue for him at some point in the future. bill: an issue in what way? by the way you mention, in houston, that was right before he became a declared candidate, 30,000 at the stadium there in houston, texas. and, how does it figure, byron? >> well, it probably helps him in the iowa caucuses, you have to remember the last iowa caucus was actually won by a former preacher, mike huckabee and one before that, 2000, by george bush, who said in a debate in domain, jesus crisis was his favorite philosopher and it probably helps in iowa. the question is, if you do a lot of that will it turn off independent voters in a general election kind of strategy? bill: you mentioned previous presidents. i think you are right about that, whether ronald reagan or bill clinton or jimmy carter and george bush. they all talked about their faith and the influence it had

on their lives. but, perry seems to be different. and now you have to gauge how people accept that. or not. >> well, here again, think about primary strategy versus general election strategy, and, another perhaps subtle thing is the issue of his rivalry with mitt romney. four of the g.o.p. candidates have accepted invitations for spoken at liberty university. and one of the ones who has not is mitt romney who is in fact a mormon. and, if there are any evangelicals who have a problem with mitt romney's mormonism, i'm not sure there are, but if there are, it is perry being clearly saying, i am an evangelical christian. bill: and you wonder if he makes a speech at some point, at the same university and michelle bachmann will be there later this month and you have to figure, perry and bachmann are going after the same vote in places like iowa and south carolina. >> and it has been successful for rick perry in texas. he has been governor more than

ten years and is not something he hides. it will be interesting see if he were to become the republican nominee, whether he tones it down, a little bit in the general election campaign. bill: one more thing here, byron. there is talk about money, there is a report out today. mitt romney, he's raised all kinds of cashing. well over $18 million and rick perry, 7 weeks into this and he's far behind, like everybody else. do issues like this change that or is mitt romney, at least in the nomination fight, always going to be number one in cash? >> well, romney has done a lot of work on the fund-raising front, and you have to remember, he put, what, close to $30 million of his own money in the last presidential campaign and he has always got that to go back on but rick perry has proven to be strong in fund-raising and has not been running for that long and his advisors have an ambitious plan to spend a lot of money in this campaign and i really don't foresee any fund-raising problems, for him. bill: byron, thank you. he has a track record for that in texas but the rules are different in texas, too and we'll be able to talk about that

next time, thanks, nice to see you. martha? martha: bill, a mysterious blue light spotted streaking across the sky, sparking a flood of 911 calls from witnesses saying, what is that! what is it? it's not blue, it is red. bill: and, opening statements the case of a millionaire accused of murdering his wife and the new bizarre twist the jury is just about to hear and watch that carefully. roll it. >> diane is dead... >> oh, no. >> and it is not real pretty, right now, and, nobody knows about it, but you. >> how did it happen? >> well, that is another story. but, right now, their mother is dead. here's the idea...

when anybody in america calls quicken loans for a free home loan review, we'll offer them a free android smartphone. but how are you going to get these phones to our clients coast to coast? dan, it's gonna take a little magic. don't worry about it. i'm on it. straight from motown to you america! quicken loans helping people coast to coast. here's an android for alaska! show 'em that motown magic. send it to me spartan-style for down south. yes! that's nice right there. ♪ helping folks in all 50 states! ♪ ♪ give me what you got, now magic, you getting tired yet?

i'm just getting warmed up! [ male announcer ] it's like magic! call today for a free home loan review. we'll offer a free android smartphone to you! ♪ hit it [ laughs ] here's one for the east coast. now that's some detroit magc right there. [ male announcer ] one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. [ male announcer ] one more way we're centurylink ... is engineered to amaze. a new kind of broadband company committed to providing honest, personal service from real people ... 5-year price-lock guarantees ... consistently fast speeds ... and more ways to customize your technology.

bill: something was streaking across the sky in the southwest part of the country last night. a flood of countries through the media and 911 and even norad. reports of a bright light blazing across the sky. they saw it in vegas and phoenix, southern california, multi-colored lights flying by and some believe it might be an ufo, and, the experts say it was probably a meteor. martha: maybe it was santa, doing a dry run, getting ready for the big day, seems logical to me, opening statements are underway in this really bizarre murder trial, that is going on in florida. a florida millionaire, who is accused of killing his own wife, developer bob ward, claims that he was trying to stop his wife from committing suicide. and told police that when he shot his wife in the face, it was an accident. >> and, it was an accident.

and, i will tell you more about it later. but, you know, it was a very tragic accident. and other than that, all i wish i could do was go [bleeped]. martha: steve harrigan joins us live from miami and you have been following the opening statements. what is the prosecution's strategy in this case? >> reporter: we have seen both sides in those opening statements and it looks like the prosecution is going to rely heavily on those 911 calls from bob ward, during the call he said, on five different occasions, in the call to the 911 operator, i just shot my wife. i just shot my wife. she's done, she's gone, i'm sorry. and, in addition to those 911 calls, they'll also rely on forensic tests from a gun expert, who has been admitted, the gun expert is expected to show that the single shot that killed diane ward was fired directly through her nose, from

18 inches away, too far, based on the gun's splatter for her to have killed herself, martha. martha: what a story this is and then you have these videos, in the jailhouse, between ward and his daughter, where they are not acting like someone who just lost a beloved spouse, in this case, dancing and laughing about things, and is that going to be part -- allowed as evidence? >> reporter: well bizarre, especially, coming on the heels of the casey anthony trial in the same courtroom. you have the accused husband and the natural daughter dancing on both sides of the glass doors there, in the jailhouse. right now, prosecution is not expected to try and use the video, as part of their case, but they will be making a number of references to bob ward's demeanor. police described him as upbeat and cheerful, while they were interviewing him and he spent several hours on his blackberry while in custody, e-mailing and texting attorneys and did not, however, calm his two daughters that evening to tell them their

mother was dead, martha? martha: very strange story. thank you very much, steve harrigan in miami on that one. bill: makes you wonder, right. stuff on videotape. so a decade of war for america, pushing our military to the limit. now, that is in dire need of an upgrade as massive budget cuts are around the corner. so, how do we work this out, and stay strong. martha: you know, this is a really interesting legal case we'll talk about, folks. her children love to read and she dropped them off at barnes & noble while she did option should and now is facing six years behind bars. >> the employees there did comment on the fact that the children were well behaved and not disturbing anyone, but, of course, it was concerning.  you want to make a healthy choice for your hair

and a healthy choice for the planet? [ female announcer ] try pantene nature fusion shampoo. its pro-v formula captures the potential of cassia to make weak, brittle hair up to 10x stronger.

and now it comes in pantene's new bottle. made from up to 59% plant-based material. ♪ healthier hair... healthier planet. one small step at a time. [ female announcer ] nature fusion from pantene. hair so healthy it shines. bill: it's right about 10:30 in new york now. a new report about our aging military arsenal. one example, air force planes are the oldest in the branches history. leon panetta says we need new hardware but it would be very expensive just as congress is trying to cut rather than add. chuck nash a fox news military analyst, good morning to you. the quote is we have a geriatric air force. is it that bad? >> reporter: its pretty old.

we've been building in ten-year cycles. you have the hollow military of the carter years, the subsequent reagan and bush one built up, then the clinton build down, then the bush 2 build up now we're coming off of ten years of combat. you have all of these things that were bought in large kwarpbt quantities during those peak periods so they wear out in bulk because they are all about the same age. bill: we are fighting a war in afghanistan and iraq too. as you point out it goes through cycles throughout history. here is what panetta wrote. the platforms and build up in the 19le 0s are reaching the end of share shelf life and must be replaced and units and equipment that volleyball been stressed by a decade of combat must be reset. they say they need 25 billion. the marines say they need 20 billion for the same. how do you get all this money when the talk in washington is about cutting and not spending?

>> reporter: it's a three-legged school. you have man power, modernization and readiness. if you want to modern nice, ie buying new things you spend money on that. if you want to keep your man power up, then you spend money on that. readiness means current operating costs, buying spare parts, fuel, all of those things. normally we do two of the three and take risks in another area. what will have to happen, and the chairman of the house armed services committee is out front leading on this. he's trying to make the clarion call, if we do too much too soon we will make a mistake, all we are talking is defense numbers not a strategy that under pins the numbers. bill: when you look at the numbers when we compare it to china, for example. chinese military budget is $91 billion a year and ours is $700 billion a year. the super committee is charged with this task, they have to

find cuts and if they don't find them the pentagon gets hit to the tune of $500 billion. >> reporter: the total jumps to $1.2 trillion of cuts, again there is no strategy going forward that under pins any of these numbers. these are simply budget drills that they are running right now. that is the frustrating part. on the one hand you've got the program and we keep hearing about cost overruns and schedule slips which just exacerbate the problem because this older stuff now can't be pushed out to pasture because the newer stuff isn't ready. we are maintaining things longer. bill: one more point on that. you mentioned the cycles up and down, up and down. do you believe we are headed for a down cycle now in defense spending. >> reporter: yes, yes absolutely. bill: how dramatic. >> reporter: i think it's going to be significant, over half a billion dollars, and over the five year, six year defense plan that may not sound that much. when you take a look and realize

that a lot of the work has been funded on the supplement always that congress put in to fight the war. you take that out and you're talking about a real house of pain over there in the pentagon. bill: chuck nash out of washington. we appreciate you coming on. >> reporter: thank you, bill. martha: there is an alabama mom who now faces six years in prison for child endangerment, and here is what they say she did. she dropped off her kids in the childrens reading section at barnes & noble. went out and did some errands and came back. there is a little more to it than that. charlene sutterland is the woman we are talking about. the report is she left two children, ages 11 and 6 unattended. they say it was for seven hours on three separate occasions, although she claims she was only gone for an hour each time. arthur ey idala is a former

defense attorney. arthur jackson is a tofrpblt. >> if i told you i dropped l u.k. a off at barnes & noble, i went out and did my laundry. martha: how old he is. >> he's 5. martha: he's old enough to go to barnes & noble. >> the younger kid is 7. if it's a seven-year-old and the 12-year-old and the 12-year-old is responsible, you said it was for an hour maybe and they've been in the store before. video surveillance shows not only was it for a much longer period of time, but it was like the third time this has happened within the realm of two weeks and the people who work there were like, you know, we are not equipped to do this and handle this. what did they eat? jelly bellies? >> come on, let's talk about this for a minute. first of all we'll be thanking this mother when these kids end up at harvard university because they are reading.

martha: they were very well behaved and just sitting there. the places are designed basically, barnes & noble so you can come in and hang out. >> 100% and every case turns on hits facts does it not arthur? >> yes. >> on turning on the facts they have a 16-year-old older brother. the issue will be was he there at the time. martha: i don't think he was there. >> the issue was, how long were they there? was it a period of short duration, long duration. did she drop them off at yankee stadium? no. >> excuse me geeee. >> it's a reading place, arthur. martha: what if this mom allowed her kids to go into town, the 11 and the 6-year-old are. as you say all this depends on who your 11-year-old is. if the 11-year-old is a very responsible child -- children who are 11 in the old days would take care of all the little kids during the day while the parents worked. if they are okay you'd let them go into town and get ice cream together, won't you.

>> here is the truth when i was 11, 30 years ago, yes. martha: you were smoking cigars. >> don't forget the cognac. >> i don't know if parents do that this day if they allow an 11-year-old to take a 6-year-old and say go and come back. i don't know the answer to that question. mommy says i only left them in there for an hour and a half. the video said they were in there for seven hours. martha: the store says seven hours. i would imagine they have video cameras everywhere. that will determine a lot for me and my read of this. if it was an hour and she said i'm going to do tire rapbdz, you guys read your books. be nice to anyone, don't speak to straerpbgs. if it's in a mall i have another issue. >> one is one you raise which is an excellent one. at 11 years old you're pretty savvy. not enough to take out the family car, certainly you know what time it is at that point.

the second thing, mart that, what are we going to to with her now, are we going to criminalize her and put her in jail and furthest strange her from her family. give her parenting classes, some community service and call it a day. >> keep her eye on her and don't let it happen again. martha: they said we have a warrant for your arrest, this is child endangerment, six counts, could be six years, we'll see. thanks for weighing in. interesting story right. >> what did they eat? martha: they are starving, they've been there for six hours. bill: she is one of the most photographed women in the world and now reports that some specific pictures are causing scarlet johansson major problems and the f.b.i. is picking up her case. why is that. martha: what about the salahi's right? they are a shy retiring couple, they don't like a lot of attention. believe it or not they are back

in the headlines and the problem was that he said she was kidnapped, okay. and there was the health issues that were brought up at one point. wait until you hear it. this one is better than all of it. we'll be right back >> yes, we have health concerns, yes we have families. that's reality. that's what the world is. everybody gets up and has problems they have to face. protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we pu.

bill: we are learning the f.b.i. is investigating a string of hacker attacks on celebrities including scarlet johansson appears to be one of the latest victims. feds are not confirming it but nude photos of her reportedly have been hacked from her cellphone, posted online. tmz.com saying her attorney is on the war path warning that anyone who does not take them down will have some big proble problems. martha: there were nude photos of her on her cellphone is what they are saying. bill: allegedly, they were hacked right off her phone.

martha: that's not a very good idea. let's talk about more serious things about the salahis. remember this couple? they were accused of crashing the white house state dinner. she said they did not, they were definitely invited in her opinion. they are back in the ted lines, tareq isn't out a tes a message saying she was kidnapped. apparently not she ran into the open warms from the guitarist from the band journey. here is more from the warren county, virginia sheriff. >> she seemed calm, engaging in conversation and assured the deputy that she had left the residence with a good friend and she was where she wanted to be. miss salahi advised she did not want mr. salahi to know where she was. she said she was sorry that the sheriff's office had to be involved but did not want to go home right now. martha: very tangled web being woven there. joined now by judy kurtz, she's

the in the know columnist with the hill. you don't get stories like this every day, right? >> with these two you do get to do stories like this every day. they are the gossip gift that keeps on giving. i wasn't surprised by the news that michaela salahi ran off with this guitar from journey. as a local reporter i was at a public event in virginia, it was a polo match and the musical act, you guessed it was journey. i asked tareq salahi how they were able to snag such a high profile act for a little polo match in virginia and he told me at the time, this was four years ago, that michaela salahi was longtime friends with the members of journey. martha: so you were there, jud at beginning of all of this. did you happen to see if michaela and this guitarist were exchanging glances at the time?

>> i didn't see them together but it did seem like they did have a steady relationship in order to be at an event like this. again, it was a polo match in virginia, it wasn't some monumental stadium or anything like that. they must have had some sort of relationship to be able to snag that kind of band. martha: my guess is that these two are going to keep this story in the headlines, that we'll hear more from her. some spokesperson there journey says, yes, she is with us and everything is okay, she is with the band. >> everything appears to be fine. you never know with these two, it could be a publicity stunt. doesn't it kind of wreak of that in some way. martha: it certainly does. >> everything they do seems to get press, they never can stay out of trouble. and they don't give us enough time to miss their shenanigans. go away for a while, let us miss you. martha: i've kind of forgotten about them for a while. now they are back. we'll see where this one goes. thank you judy very much.

what a story. bill: you think they needed some attention. martha: do you think she and the journey guitarist will have a lasting relationship. bill: i don't know. where is rick perry. he blew up the band. martha: michaela just wants to be with the band, poor tareq left out in the cold. bill: next we'll hear from fall cat. jenna lee is working on headlines coming up in a couple of minutes. jenna: i don't know how you follow that. you guys have a pretty good act going. take that on the road. the tea party's influence, does it support or does it hurt the gop in 2012? we'll talk about that. lots of people are concerned with the u.s. economy right now. but are we truly entering a new global danger zone? and is the u.s. to blame in we'll talk about that with steve

moore. apple juice, kids love it, parents think it's a healthy treat. everyone is happy. guess again. new information creating a huge buzz. could you actually be giving your child poison in your apple juice. we'll talk about the facts in that story. we have the facts for you bill at the top of the hour. bill: don't stop believing, jenna, every. jenna: i won't, bill. bill: a 9/11 memorial sparking controversy now taken down. in moments the reason why. and it has a lot to do with the names that were on that memorial. you will not believe this one. martha: and a school has its charter revoked. it plans to use the bible as a teaching tool, did that have something to do with it? we'll be right back [ grandma ] relationships are life... if you don't have that thing that fills your heart and your soul, you're missing that part of your life that just fulfills you. ♪

[ male announcer ] for us at humana, relationships matter too. the better we know you, the better we can help you choose the right medicare plan. that's why humana agents sit down with you to figure out your medicare options. and we have nurses you can call anytime, even at 3 a.m. because when you're on the right humana medicare plan and taking good care of yourself, then you can be there for the people who matter most. [ grandma ] my family is my joy, my hope... they are my heart. it's the reason we get out of bed in the morning... [ grandpa ] the reason we fall into bed at night sometimes. [ grandma ] yes. that's right. [ male announcer ] humana.

bill: breaking news from the

florida house, only moments ago during that commercial break the two latest members of congress, bob turner, republican and mark amoday republican, turner from new york, and amoday from florida, they both won their elections. they got a round of applause. turner was a stunner in new york. he won in a district that is 3-1 democrat to republican. >> without objection -- speaker of the house john boehner. they are officially members of congress as of now. martha: yes indeed. how about this. what was supposed to be a lasting tribute to september 11th now taken down because of what was inscribed on the plot. washington township, new jersey. 20 miles from grand zero, a slab of granite, you see it there, the slab of granite is being remade for the 9/11 memorial there. the only names put on the slab,

it says dedicated september 11th 2001, 10-year anniversary. the tphaeufpls on it are the mayor and other town officials. that's who were acknowledged. it did acknowledge the 10th anniversary with a piece of steel from the wreckage but it turns out none of the world trade victims were from that sound. they decided on the plaque we'll honor the mayor and other town officials. they are saying they are very sorry if they are offending anyone. bill: that is not going to fly. a court battle underway over a chartered school in idaho, the charter revoked last year. the school believes it's because of the use of the bible as a historical text of the classroom. douglas kennedy is looking into this live in new york in the latest installment of taking liberties. what did you find. >> reporter: idaho is one of the most conservative states in the country but it's got one of the most progressive laws separating church and state. one man in idaho is trying to change that.

>> it's a dirt field right now. this used to be our campus. >> reporter: this school teach teacher, isaac move fit, any indication that leaves out relidge eugs education is no education at all. >> this is a primary teaching source of actual people who lived during the time period. >> reporter: unfortunately for him the board of education in idaho disagreed and shut down the charter school one year after it was founded citing his use of the bible in class. this is a video of the school as it existed in 2010, and this is the school now. all the classrooms are gone and all that's left is this vacant lot. moffitt has now hired an attorney and is suing the state. david cortman is from the appliance defense fund that defends christian causes.

>> they have held that it's constitutionally permissible to teach the bible in public schools. >> reporter: a 2009 memorandum from idaho's attorney general's office explains the state's position citing article nine. no sectarian or religious tenants or doctrines shall ever be taught in the public schools. >> this is pretty clear. it says no religious doctrines shall ever be taught in the public schools. >> it's clearly a misrepresentation of the idaho constitution. it prohibits sectarian and denominational doctrines but not all religious texts. >> reporter: and certainly not if they are taught as religious history. back to you. martha: this is a cute couple and they are living life to the fullness their golden years. take a look. >> look at the monkey. >> did they capture it?

i forgot capture. martha: i love this. they are making a leap inch too cyberspace and god bless them. their web cam failed. now approaching 2 million hits on youtube. more when we come back. bill: priceless. al settlement 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.

a vacation on a budget with expedia. make it work. booking a flight by itself is an uh-oh. see if we can "stitch" together a better deal. that's a hint, antoine.

ooh! see what anandra did? booking your flight and hotel at the same time gets you prices hotels and airlines won't let expedia show separately. book it. major wow factor! where you book matters. expedia.

bill: thousands of homes burned to the ground in texas. the fast moving fire even claimed the local fire department. the heart of pines volunteer fire station destroyed in only a matter of minutes. >> within five minutes there was a hissing sound and all the forest around us went up. so we just dropped the hoses, hopped in the cap and ran like hell. we trained for it, talked about it, until you see it it's something else. bill: unfortunately it's something else. that fire department and fire is one of the largest that texas has seen in august, about 70%

contained after the triple digits temperatures ripped across the state for two months. martha: he's 86, she is 79, and neither one of them knew how to use a web cam and who can blame them. most of us have trouble with the web cams. lucky for us bruce and esther stumbled on the record button. >> you can email them to selected media. why won't it take a picture? >> i don't know, dear. [burp ] pardon me. >> i did it before my accident. >> you're like me you do more things by accident than most people do in person. >> warning, you must stop recording before trying to close. cyber link, gee, i don't know what i'm recording, shucks. >> maybe this recorded us.

bill: he's onto something. martha: maybe. their 21-year-old granddaughter saw that, thought it was hilarious and posted it on youtube as web cam 101 for seniors. it has 2 million hits and they were on fox & friends this morning. they could not be nicer. they are the sweetest, greatest couple, having so much fun together and who hasn't felt like that in front of a computer. bill: we've all been there, right. martha: yeah. bill: they were good sports about it. martha: they were great sports about it. we love esther and bruce. bill: we'll be back tomorrow. martha: take care guys. "happening now" starts right now. bill and i will see you right back here tomorrow. jon: we begin with a fox news alert, another law officer shot this time in justin, texas. thinks all taking place as you look at live pictures there the kdfw chopper. about 50 miles to the northwest of dallas, t