and romney combined. i spoke one-on-one with mr. cain in or land -- in orlando this peek. i have interviews with newt gingrich, rick santorum and michelle bachmann. hear from them where their campaigns stan now and where they go. all coming over the next two hours. >> breaking news, two american hikers finally free from an iranian prison. i'm shannon bream. we begin with that breaking news after two years in an iranian prison american hikers josh fattal and shane bauer are back home. jenna has been following the story closely with family and friends over the last couple of years. she is live in new york with the latest on their arrival. excellent news. >> reporter: very good news today. josh and shane are here in

new york city. their flight landed about an hour ago. at this time they are heading for an undisclosed location in manhattan where we expect to hear from them later this afternoon. there are so many questions for these young men. we don't know many of the details of their 780 plus days behind bars. here's what we do know. shane and josh have been charged and convicted and sentenced to a years in prison for illegally crossing the border of iran for spying. as of wednesday the iranian ministry released them in their words as a soon of islamic mercy. the timing is suspect. they are coming home around the one year anniversary of sarah shourd's release she was also hiking with them in northern iraq when they were taken into custody. that one year anniversary coincides with the u.n.'s general an stem buy where president ahmadinejad makes his annual --e t release has bee described as a pr event that said, what the pr event to iran is the conclusion of a

real family nightmare. a nightmare that started in july of 2009. i spoke with sarah shortly after she was released and asked what she was doing hiking on the border? a question of our viewers have. she maintains there was an innocent excursion. denies any accusation of spying. they don't know and we don't know whether or not they crossed the border. if they did, that was illegal. those questions aside today, they are home. it is worth mentioning the u.s. had little to do directly with their release. our officials and families relied on switzerland, oman and iraq to communicate with iran. oman paid the million dollar bail for their release. you can see them getting on the plane headed back to the states this is a reminder of the fact we have no diplomatic relationship with this country. if they take our people, there's no one going in to get those people back. this is really a broader background to the story that

we have to consider on a day like today. >> shannon: i remember your interviews with the family, so much pain in their voice not knowing what was going on with their children, brother, sisters. they have to have great relief. >> reporter: they would go maybe five months, not knowing anything about their children. not being able to kate with them. by the way, shane and josh haven't been able to meet with their lawyer. which sound -- they've been in prison for more than years. imagine never speaking directly with the person representing you. gives us some insight into the legal system or lackthereof in iran. >> shannon: jenna, thanks for your coverage. >> reporter: thank you. and the president thinks

the wealthy aren't paying their fair share? juke manipulate statistics any way you want. >> chris: wait a minute, you don't think the top 10% -- [ talking over each other ] >> they are making a ton of money. >> chris: but they are paying 70% of the taxes. >> 22,000 millionaires pay less effective tax rate, un15%. we have inequities. >> shannon: that was white house seen for adviser david plouffe duking it out with chris wallace overtaxes. going to be a large issue. mr. obama is on the west coast for a campaign fundraising swing. steve centanni is following that and engines more. >> reporter: the president heads to three states in -- three days. hoping to rake in some cash for his reelection effort. the president left the white house this morning for a trip that will focus on jobs and fundraising. he will visit washington state and california.

spend the day in california tomorrow where there will be a jobs round table and stop in denver on the way home tuesday before he took off, he tried rally a crucial part of his base. urging members of the congressional black caucus to stop complaining and start helping. >> the president: takeoff your bedroom slippers, put on your marching shoes. shake it off. stop complaining. stop grumbling. stop crying. we are gonna press on. we got work to do! cbc! >> reporter: this obama's answer to those in his own party who say he's conceded too much ground to republicans in the budget battles. one prominent republican took aim at the president over his recent jobs appearance at a bridge that badly needs repairing. >> their approach, after being beat is if to ohio and kentucky and give a speech about a bridge and to declare class warfare as their strategy in terms of solving the economy.

every problem that he inherited is much worse. higher unemployment, more debt, higher gas prices. >> reporter: the president and his team gearing up for battle. top white house adviser laying out an important theme of the reelection campaign. >> the president believed the right way to get our fiscal house in order is ask the wealthy to pay their fair share. please going to continue, as he has, push to cut taxes for the middle class. so they can weather this economic turn better. >> reporter: plouffe said this morning the campaign will be a tough close election and he predicts the president will narrowly win that reelection bid. >> we shall see. steve thank you. over on the gop side, not the governors perry and romney garnering headlines. the it is atlanta businessman, herman cain. he took top spot in the florida straw poll. he a lot don't think he's a top tier candidate yes. he says that is something that

has to change. >> i'm a serious contender because of the people. the iowa straw poll, you could stack the deck. could you practically buy that. several tried to do it. now you see what happened. with all due respect, representative michelle bachmann has her star has fallen. because it was temporary. the difference is in florida, these were delegates that were making the call. they were making the call, based upon, who they saw as the person with the most substance in their message. >> shannon: cain scored more votes than perry and romney combined. romney opted not to actively campaign for the florida votes but perry had done so. perry's campaign said congrats to cain but this is a real loss for romney . >> shannon: neither romney nor michelle bachmann who came in last campaigned for the straw

poll saturday. i caught up with several candidates including herman cain and michelle bachmann. we'll bring you those interview views today. >> is the 2012 gop presidential nomination still just a two-person race? did the debate or the straw poll change your mind? you can speak us to in different ways. e-mail, facebook or twitter. >> shannon: we will read your responds later in the show. we would love to hear from you. hero's welcome for palestinian president abbas. telling a crowd in the west bank that a palestinian spring has been born. low lend vittert is live with more on -- low lend vittert is live with more. >> reporter: the celebration mace be like a high school screen sore saying i'm going to harvard because he sent in the application rather than waiting for the acceptance

letter. the united states has said it is going to veto palestinian statehood when that gets to the u.n. security council. the big question is, what are the palestinians going to do now? in ramallah today, president abbas came home to a warm welcome. wouldn't go as far to call it a hero's welcome. as this statehood bid goes down in failure the question is will hamas use this to exploit things? or are we going to see the palestinia rise up and take on a much harder line towards the israelis? a lot of palestinians are frustrated. they've got not again -- during friday's speeches there was a watch party in ramallah when prime minister benjamin netanyahu of israel came on the screen the crowd started throwing their shoes at the screen that mr. netanyahu was speaking on that doesn't do a lot for peace and harmony there. were clashes at one of the big

check points to the west bank. kids were throwing moll -- molotov cocktails. if this goes forward abbas has rejected the u.s. call for sitting down and continuing talks with israel any kind of meaningful negotiations. the question is, does abbas then say okay it failed at the united nations, now we start launching massive street protests like the kind of thing we saw in cairo or syria. that kind of thing, especially here in israel can turn into a cycle of violence that becomes ditch to stop. last night, when it became during the second intifada it took five years before we had anything you could call quiet in this neck of the woods. >> shannon: one world leader who may not get such a pleasant homecoming is president ahmadinejad. his appearance the u.n. included the usual amount of

america bashing from claiming we control the entire world to killing bin laden to cover-up 9/11. the u.s. -- ahmadinejad reaching out to americans proposing a hotline like the one established between washington and moscow during the cold war. >> we have always announced and maintained that freedom, fairness and justice, the right to choose, mutual respect is the right of all countries of all nations. >> shannon: reaching out has now put him on the outs with the powerbrokers in tehran. he's got to answer for that. >> we are working on getting an interview and some technical things ironed out with the deputy knesset speaker in israel. we will hear from both sides today. that interview coming up first.

and another with the other viewpoint shortly after that >> starting in 2015, saudi women will be given the right to vote and run in municipal elections. king abdullah made the announcement today. the king said muslim women must not be marginalized in opinion or advice. the country still bans women drivers. they are required to order a car or travel with a male guardian. the first military tribunal to be held on u.s. soil is being considered. a hezbollah commander captured in iraq in 2009. he has been linked to a 2007 attack in iraq that kill four u.s. soldiers. president obama supports these tribunals as affect five means of action in the war on terror because of recent changes that have given prisoners more rights. the interview we've been telling you about, joining us from tel aviv is deputy knesset speaker. sir, thank you -- all right we

will get back to that we'll keep trying. >> later in our next hour we will have the other side of that as well, so stick with us. while covering the debate in florida, guy a chance to talk to a lot of folk there is campaigning for the 2012 nod, including herman cain, riding high on his florida straw poll one. also, exclusive information on his 9, 9, 9 tax plan, just for you. that is not the only candidate we caught with up. michelle bachmann came in last in that straw poll, find out what she tells us are her strengths in the race. dad, why are you getting that? is there a prize in there? oh, there's a prize, all right. [ male announcer ] inside every box of cheerios are those great-tting little o's made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholester. is it a superhero? kinda. ♪

gives you a 50% annual bonus! so you earn 50% more cash. according to research, everybody likes more cash. well, almost everybody... ♪

would you like 50% more cash? no! but it's more money. [ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? woah! [ giggles ] the two trains and a bus rider. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic. for 80 years, we've been inspired by you. and we've been honored to walk with you

to help you get where you want to be ♪ because your moment is now. let nothing stand in your way. learn more at keller.edu.

>> shannon: nasa is revealing new details about plans to develop a supervised rocket. nasa hopes it will take astronauts to an asteroid by 2025 and then to mars several years later. more powerful than apollo 5. nasa hopes to begin testing that rocket by 201017. -- by 2017.

while covering the debate this week i was able to snag a few con terpers. we'll give you a sneak peek of here's the first one. >> i think the strongest issue i have is on economy and job creation. i'm a former federal tax lawyer i get how you turn the around. i get how you change jobs. more than any other candidate there that sets me apart i've been fighting on these issues for the last five years. i'm a true conservative. on every issue from tea party to social conservative to fiscal conservative. i think one thing we know is we don't have to settle. we can have a candidate who has it all and who is going to stand up and fight for conservatives. that's what we can do. we are always told that conservatives have to stan against the wall, wait our

turn. and we have to go with the moderate candidates. not this year. we can beat obama. why not get a candidate no truly will repeal obamacare? that's what i will do. >> shannon: last month bachmann won the iowa straw poll this weekend she finished last in the florida straw poll. neither she nor romney actively campaigned for the delegates. they were at the google debate in orlando this week. i caught up with straw poll winner herman cain. >> did president obama push ahead with the bush era plan to provide weapons to israel? a recent investigation is turning up facts and looking into a deal that goes back to 2009. >> reporter: "newsweek" magazine is reporting in 2009 president obama allowed our military to sell israel 28 hard target pen traitors known as bunker busters designed to take out underground targets.

here's what the pentagon is saying, we are not going to comment, make no mistake the united states is committed to the security of israel and israel's ability to maintain it qualitative -- these bunker busters give israel a new option if they decide to strike iran's nuclear facilities. john bolton says if this news week report is correct, it could be an indication the president is ready to let israel do his dirty work. >> it is clear the obama administration will not use military force against iran's nuclear weapons program. despite the fact iran is very, very close to achieving a we are weapons capability. if it falls to israel, to undertake that as they have done in the past, against syria, iraq's nuclear reactor. i hope they have the capability to do this. i think bunker busters will add to the pro peck they could attack successfully. -- prospect they could attack

successfully. >> reporter: the deal was put together by the bush administration. here's a dod memo from 2005: >> reporter: the deal was delayed initially because we thought israel was giving our secrets to that. bush said he would release these weapons in 2009 and 2010, president obama took over, he was the one who ended up releasing them >> shannon: this is a complicated relationship. interesting story. thanks peter. >> joining us live from tel aviv is deputy knesset speaker, thank you for joining us, good morning to you. >> thank you shannon it is my pleasure being here. >> shannon: i want to ask you

about a recap of events this week at the u.n.. palestinian president mahmoud abbas formally petitioning for statehood. some say it is symbolic. what do you think it was about? >> i think president abbas tried to have a shortcut to bypass the negotiation to

palestinian >> shannon: how do you respond to the palestinians who say they can agree on the basic fundamental starting point for the negotiations? >> you have to go back and read the oslo accord. i did, i read the oslo accord a few times. it was signed on the white house lawn in 1993. it stays clearly, neither side should take unilateral action. maybe they want to get the end result without the negotiations. but the signed agreement in the white house. they have to obey to that agreement. what they want now for president obama, they want him to push israel in order to have the end result of the negotiations before entering the room. it dent work that way if they want to negotiate, we have our demands. we have issue of security. the issue you've recognizing the very existence of the

state of israel. when i saw abbas seeing at the. -- at the u.n. i didn't see he was willing to recognize israel as a jewish stay. >> shannon: you appeared with one of the con terpers for the u.s. presidency, texas governor perry. in the wake of that, prime minister netanyahu talked about the fact that he wished that to stay out of the u.s. politics, you want to clarify what that was about? >> sure. i will stand with every governor, congressman, democrat or republican, who stands for the state of israel. governor perry and other gop candidates do so. and i know some democrats congressmen who are doing soap. we are not interfering in the internal issues of the -- political game in the u.s.. we need our friends in congress to talk to the president, we will not allow you to transfer 500 million

dollars a year to the palestinians if they break the accord. i will encourage all of our friends in the u.s. to speak up for israel. i will continue to speak and work with the friends of israel whoever they are, democrats or republicans. >> shannon: sir, thank you for your time today. >> thank you very much. >> shannon: keeping things fair and balanced, in the next hour we sit down with a representative from the american task force on palestinian. this he -- he said they are looking not for confrontation but solution. we hope you stay tuned for that >> while in orlando we had the opportunity to sit down with former speaker of the house newt gingrich. >> if assume washington remains the way washington is right now it is all hopeless. might as well buy greek bonds and go down together. >> shannon: we asked him about

his tennessee to sometimes act more like a moderator than candidate? you want to hear his response. if you missed the debate watch the entire thing after our show, 2:00 eastern today on the fox news channel. employers or employees. not white collar or blue collar or no collars. we are business in america. and every day we awake to the same challenges. but at prudential we're helping companies everywhere find new solutions to manage risk, capital and employee benefits, so american business can get on with business. ♪ delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet they're closing thousands of offices, slashing service, and want to lay off over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ?

a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains 5 billion a year from post-office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts. congress created this problem, and congress can fix it. what if we designed an electric motorcycle? what if we turned trash into surfboards? whatever your what if is, the new sprint biz 360 has custom solutions to make it happen, including mobile payment processing, instant hot spots, and powerful devices like the motorola photon 4g. so let's all keep asking the big what ifs. sprint business specialists can help you find the answers. sprint. america's favorite 4g network. trouble hearing on the phone? visit sprintrelay.com.

>> shannon: two american hikers convicted of espionage in iran are home after two years in custody. peter doocy is standing by with your top stories. >> reporter: josh and shane are back in the u.s. they ed a plane in oman yesterday after being released from awry rannian prison -- from an iranian prison on one million dollars bail. sarah shourd was released last year for medical reasons. >> herman cain bested perry and romney in a florida straw poll. cain captured 37.1% of the vote compared to perry's 15.4% and romney's 14%.

perry and romney skipped the poll in orlando to attend campaign events in michigan. >> six ton satellite -- [ unintelligible ] plummeted to earth, officials not sure where it landed. they think it landed in the pacific. say parts could have fallen on land in the pacific northwest. no injuries or damage has been reported. >> michelle obama taking to reality tv. the first lady will appear on the season premiere of extreme makeover home edition. the focus will be on a shell in north carolina for homeless female veterans. >> shannon: that is a great show and great cause. i've e-mailed with your dad about the fact that he's sitting operate couch with kleenex watching that show every sunday night. >> reporter: yeah, you need it.

>> special episode tonight, thanks peter. >> newt gingrich is no er to politics. -- is no stranger to politics. when a chance to catch up with him and asked him how he feels about some people calling him the brains of the operation when it comes to the gop field? >> pretty flattering. i don't object to being called somebody who has lots of ideas and sob who reads lots of book. -- and sock who raes lots of books, i'm tered by it. -- i'm flattered by it. did lead the effort to balance the budget and reform well care. i can be practical. i like ideas and i like trying to learn things. >> shannon: i asked how he thinks it changes the conversation, his being in the campaign? >> i hope that i have

communicated how serious our problems are and why these debates, these speeches ought to be serious. i think it really does matter. and i hope second that i've begun to elevate the scale of the specific proposals. next week in des moines thursday when i outline a 21st century contract with america, i think that will further expand the sense of how real this is and how important this is. >> shannon: where does the newt gingrich campaign go from here wham is the strategy for gaining more track -- here? what is the strategy for gaining more traction? >> we are going to open offices in iowa and south carolina next. we are also bidding out our internet capability. we hope to have many, many home headquarters. where people locally are actively engaged in the campaign. we are getting more people signing up. one of the things the debates have done is expanded the number of people signing up

and volunteering to help. >> shannon: i asked about the fact that sometimes seems to be operating as an extra mod ray for, from the -- moderator from the stage. >> i watched in 2007 and 2008 and i thought some of the folks in particular, chris matthews of msnbc, was terrible at framing the whole evening as an anti-republican diatribe. at the time, i thought if i were on that stage i wouldn't tolerate it. i haven't gone out of my way to pick fights. i've been through a couple where i didn't say anything. but i listen carefully to the assumptions of the moderators. i try to come back and reframe it. because i think they are not running for president. they are not suggesting that they are prepared to lead the country. the people who claim to be ready to lead the country, ought to be frankly, ready to in order to get to an

understandable conversation. >> shannon: we'll see how he does in the debates of the future. speaking of debates the candidates made a lot of bold statements thursday night many was everything they said true? joining us to separate fact we love these segments thanks for coming back. >> glad to be with you. >> shannon: we start with rick perry. statements he's made about texas and waivers on medicare in the federal government. >> i disagree with your analysis. we've had a request in for the federal government so we could have a medicaid waiver for years. and the federal government has stopped us from having that medicaid waiver. >> shannon: glen, fact or fiction? >> that's fiction. what he's talking is a waiver they put -- that they submitted during the bush administration. which the bush administration rejected saying it was riddled with errors and all sorts of problems. texas has never resubmitted

that waiver. it is not like the government is preventing them from going for. they have to submit it. slant -- >> shannon: this has to do with herman cain who was a big winner the florida straw poll yesterday. he talked about the fact he's a stage 4 colon cancer survivor and how he would have fared under obamacare. >> the reason i said i would be dead under obamacare is because my cancer was detected in march. -- in march of 2006 from march 2006 to the end of 2006 for that sum of months, i was able to get the necessary cat scan, go to the necessary doctors, get a second opinion, get chemotherapy. get surgery. recuperate from surgery. get more chemotherapy. in a span of nine months.(g?x >> shannon: of course his argument is that wouldn't be

possible, that timeline under the president's health care law. >> well, his story is quite inspiring, his survival from cancer. what he's describing is a situation we have in the private insurance system. managed care, where doctors can be managed by bureaucrats.ó) obama's health plan doesn't really change that dynamic. in fact, most studies show that the number of people who would -- the people who are uninsured have higher death rates from cancer. if you have greater health insurance, coverage, that cancer rate was go down. >> shannon: you take some issue with the way he characterized how his case played out? >> yes. generally, you are not going to see that much change for most people for how their insurance works unobama's health plan. >> shannon: let's go to mitt romney.

he talked about the president and the position has taken on some foreign affairs issues. >> the president went about this all wrong. he went around the world and apologized for america. he addressed the united nations in his inaugural address and chastised our friend, israel for building settlements and said nothing about hamas launching thousands of rock questions into israel. >> shannon: true or false his take on the president? >> i've looked carefully at this. the notion that obama apologized for america is not borne out by the facts. you could argue there was a bit after poll jet tick tone in some of his early speeches of he was trying -- trying to kweurb himself from the previous administration like george w. bush tried to distinguish him bill clinton. the idea of apology or i'm sorry. i found examples where george w. bush was more apologetic for the acts of the

united states than obama ever was in his early speeches. for the part of israel. i looked back, he did chastise israel for settlements. he also mentioned the rocket attacks by hamas. though he didn't mention hamas by name. >> shannon: we have a mix there. glenn kessler thanks. >> glad to be with you. >> shannon: we've been hearing a lot about unemployment numbers. the it may surprise you which age group has the highest rate since world war ii. next. this is not only the master of all droids, it's the master of all machines. so powerful, anything you download on your computer is available on your droid bionic, instantly, wirelessly, at verizon 4g lte speed. never sync with a cord again. the droid bionic by motorola.

control it and you control everything.

getting an amazing discount on a hotel with travelocity's top secret hotels. [ gnome ] ahhh... [ male announcer ] the easy way to get unpublished discounts of up to 55% off top hotels. [ gnome ] your fingers are quite magical. carol. fiber makes me sad. oh common. and how can you talk to me about fiber while you are eating a candy bar? you enjoy that. i am. [ male announcer ] fiber beyond recognition. fiber one. >> shannon: disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. some of the charges against as many as 80 protesters in new york city. a spoke man for the occupy wall street protests said police used excessive violence in saturday's arrest. demonstrators were marching in and aroundler manhattan and

the new york stock exchange protesting against what they -- what they say are bank bailouts and mortgage crisis. >> employment impacts people from all walks of life. new census reports young adults may be some of the hardest hit. joining us to break down the numbers brenda buttner. >> growing up, first hiring has to go up. until then, a generation of young americans are essentially putting their lives on hold. during a last decade, the unemployment rate for young people hit the highest level since, get this, world war ii. half of americans age 16 to 29 have jobbed. if they can find jobs it is easy to -- easy to figure out what follows. forget the first house. forget marriage. the big one forget saying good-bye to mom and dad. you are staying home. and say hello to poverty. 1 in five of what is becoming known as the recession's lost

generation, risk living in poverty more than others. new 2010 census information shows how serious in problem is. it is not that the young people are lazy, they take the jobs available. many college grads getting by waitressing, bar continuing and doing odd jobs. student -- bartending, and doing odd jobs. student loans wait for no one if you are unemployment employed you still get those bills. many saddled with tens of thousands in debt. which has a big impact not just on the young, but on their parents. empty nesters don't give up your basements. 5.9 million americans aged 25 to 34 last year lived with their parents. a hike of 25%, from before the recession. most of them are guys. a record one in five young men doubled up in households. men are nearly twice as likely as women to live with their parents. they are not willing to get

married with no job. marriage fell to a low last year. seems the recession's legacy will last long after a recovery takes hold. back to you shannon. >> shannon: that makes the whole dating thing sound complicated too if you live with mom and dad. >> just adds to that, yes. >> shannon: thank you brenda. >> thank you. >> shannon: check this out, amazing video out of milwaukee, wisconsin. rare outbreak of waterspouts over lake michigan caused by warm air rising off the lake fixing -- mixing with colder air we'll have that video coming up. nine-year-old christine taylor green was the youngest victim of the arizona shooting. up next a touching and fitting memorial. my doctor told me calcium

is best absorbed in small continuous amounts.

only one calcium supplement does that in one daily dose. citracal slow release... continuously releases calcium plus d for the efficient absorption my body needs. citracal. try smart balance buttery sead. 's heart-healthier than butter. with omega-3s. 64% less saturated fat. andlinically proveno help support healthy cholesterol. ♪ put a little love in your heart ♪

>> shannon: white collar executives looking for work may have met their match. a company describing itself as the e-harmony of franchising. casey stegall is live in los angeles to tell us more about that story. different kind of match making. >> reporter: it is a different

kind of match making. the recession hit everyone hard. a lot of white collar executives were laid off from their jobs, forced to start over, despite having years and years of experience in the corporate world. it is not all gloom and doom when it comes to business prospects in this downed economy for people who have cash in savings and looking to take a game wall about -- gamble. they are turning their dream into a reality by opening a franchise. according to the international franchise association there are 825,000 of them in the united states. employing roughly 18 million people and contributing 1.2 trillion to the gdp. with so many options it might seem impossible to choose, right? enter fran-net described as the e-harmony of franchising. it works as a matchmaker between executives looking for

their next career move and franchisers looking for smart business savvy owners to help their companies grow. >> typically, they've never owned a business before. they don't know where to start. it is a major decision. but a decision that most people like to have, by owning their own business and we are able to help them out. >> you have skills you want to utilize. a lot of executives are getting to the point where they know they could be gone in a second for me, it was about taking on the risk myself and betting on myself. >> reporter: we are not just talking about fast food franchises. there are a lot of options. everything from scenior services to barbershops. even business coaching that runs the gamut. you just have to have the seed money. at the experts who say you do this, the returns are being paid out quite quickly. >> shannon: that's what

america is all about, taking that gamble. 9-year-old christine taylor green was the youngest victim of the tucson shootings. this week a playground was dedicate -- dedicatedded in the little girl's honor. she had again to the event in hopes of meeting the congresswoman to talk about her own aspirations to have a career in politics. herman cain the winner of florida straw poll claim his ideas have set him apart from the pack. he will tell us more, coming up. >> president obama's jobs plan calls for higher taxes on america's highest earns. how do you americans out there define rich? we'll look at that, after this break. stay with. [ man ] behind every business is a "what if."

what if we designed an electric motorcycle? what if we turned trash into surfboards? whatever your what if is, the new sprint biz 360 has custom solutions to make it happen, including mobile payment processing, instant hot spots, and powerful devices like the motorola photon 4g. so let's all keep asking the big what ifs. sprint business specialists can help you find the answers. sprint. america's favorite 4g network. trouble hearing on the phone? visit sprintrelay.com. canake it from australia to a u.s. lab

to a patient in time for surgery may seem like a trumped-up hollywood premise. ♪ but if you take away the dramatic score... take away the dizzying 360-degree camera move, and take away the over-the-top stunt, you're still left with a pretty remarkable tale. but, okay, maybe keep the indulgent supermodel cameo... thank you. [ male announcer ] innovative medical solutions. fedex. solutions that matter. we're off to a good start. but now it'time to go to the next level. so let's do a little detective work. pick up what we need. roll out... caulk...and install. and pretty soon, we're seeing the fruits of our labor right there at our bottom line. more saving. moreoing. that's the power of the home depot. owens corning ecotouch attic insulation is only $9.97 a roll.

>> shannon: president obama's jobs plan and i increasing taxs on america's rich. a couple of the t hot topics in the fox news google debate. who will the plans single out? james rosen took a closer look. >> reporter: this question of who is rich is one that politicians especially the unmistakably rich ones find it advisable not to address directly. >> is half a million dollars

rich? a million dollars rich? at what income does someone reach your definition of rich? >> i don't try and define who is rich and who is not rich. i want everybody in america to be rich. i want people in this country to have opportunities. >> reporter: ordinary americans and certainly those who participated in our interactive debate by logging on to google have definite ideas about this. 12% said those with annual incomes higher than 100 grand a year are rich. 22% thought you have to make $250,000 a year to qualify. another 22% pinpointed those earning 500 grand a year and 44% define millionaires, those raking in more than a million a year as rich. >> the president of the united states. >> reporter: in his address to congress this month, the president defined as rich those to pay higher taxes anyway 250 grand arn 250 grawnd a year. >> i must be considered rich.

>> i think we should make over $100,000 to be living good. >> a million dollars or more. >> $500,000 to $600,000 a dwreer. >> ile make my cut at half a million dollars a year. >> you can scour for a definition of the rich and you will not find one. it is purely subjective. san francisco, new york, washington, d.c. you will find a definition of rich different than if you went to a city in the middle of illinois or in the middle of iowa or the middle of oklahoma. >> reporter: you will see rich defined at least the twice more in coming months in november when the so-called supercommittee in congress provides its recommendations for our fiscal path and then again when the bush era tax 2012.xpire again in late 2012 in washington, james rosen, fox news. >> shannon: the interviews were taken live during thursday night's fox news debate with google. the polling results continued to update since then. 45% out this say someone is

rich if they earn a million dollars or more a year. >> shannon: president obama heads west today to raise money for his 2012 reelection campaign. he section pecte expected to tw aggressive message on the notoriously liberal growth in an effort to energize voters. and on the gop side presidential contender herman cain scored big in florida. 37% of the straw poll yesterday, more than rick perry and mitt romney combined. i'm shannon bream. hour number two of america's news headquarters live from the nation's capital begins right now. >> after two years in an iranian prison, american hikers are back on u.s. soil today. jenna lee has been tracking the

story from the beginning. she is also the anchor of "happening now" and joins us with the latest. hi. >> we are just a few hours away from hearing from josh and shane right here in new york city. interesting to hear what they have to say. we will try to bring you the comments live. again, we expect that a few u hours from now. the question of why it happened and how the ordeal even started is still a question that we hear today when we do the story and it will be interesting as well to hear if josh and shane have anything further to say about the fateful day in july of 2009 that led to their arrest and detention in iran. we described them as hiker is. a video as they leave oman headed back to the united states. they weren't just hikers. it is important to point that out. sarah was working as an aide worker and shane is a well known free lanc freelance jour. a tour they are taking in

northern iraq which led to more questions as to why they were on the iraq iranian border during a time of war. the timing is suspect, but no coincidence. this is the week for the u.n. meeting. this is often looked as as a p.r. event of showing mercy from the rogue regime in iran. another question we will be looking for today and looking for answers quite frankly about how their stay was in the infamous prison in iran. mahmoud ahmadinejad described the condition there's as a hotel. i can tell you from what shannon told me it did n sound that way. she was h h neld solitary con confinement for days and weeks on end. lights constantly going on and off so it was difficult to sleep at night. she talked about the experience that josh and shane had staying together, of course, in a cell.

told a story of a beating that took place and we started to hear some of the new details about life inside the prison. that will be interesting to hear if they have anything more to say today. also something we will be looking for is any more details about the release. we know oman put up the million and a half dollars. $500,000 for sarah and $500,000 for each of these young men. we will pay close attention to what each of these two men have to say about iran now, that they are back on u.s. soil. a couple of hours from now we will bring you the comments live. >> shannon: interesting to hear their story not only today but more in the coming months and years. thank you very much for covering the story. >> thank you. they have had a huge advantage in terms of name i.d. they had a neuj advantag huge n terms of some people in the media trying to turn this into

a two-man race. when you have your name plastered all over the media day after day the name i.d. goes up. they didn't talk about herman cain. now, they have to talk about herman cain. as my name i.d. goes up, cain versus more of the same is what is coming through and this is what that you saw in florida. >> shannon: some of the ideas of herman cain that would change the tax idea as we know it or what some dubbed his 999 plan. i caught up with him in florida and he gave us is more information. it is a first for us on that plan. >> you are a busy man on the road campaigning. why do you think that you resonate so well with people? you have a lot of fans out there. >> because of my common sense message and there really is a hunger for someone who is not a poll degrees. politicianing. this is what the people are

saying. all you have to do is attend one of my events and when i get to the point where i try to describe the typical presidential political paradigm, name i.d., a cajillion dollars and having held high public office. then he announce to the crowd i pub never held high public was office. they spontaneously applaud. >> shannon: i have seen that. and quadrillion, how many zeros? >> beyond trillion. >> beyond our national debt. >> but don't tell president obama that cajillion exists. >> shannon: because nobody wants to get there talk about your plan. >> it is called the 9 999 plan, it it is bld or different than any other candidate has propoatsed or hinted they are thinking about. throw out the current tax code and impose a 9% business flat

tax. a 9% personal income tax and % national sales tax. it replaces corporate income taxes. personal income taxes. estate taxes. the payroll tax which is the biggest tax that a lot of people pay and also replaces the capital gains tax. this myth that 48% of the people don't pay taxes, they don't pay income taxes but they pay that 15% -- 15.3% payroll tax. what my plan does is it replaces that and lowers that rate to 9 about percent. everybody wins because it expands the base. >> shannon: a lot of folks interested out there. want to tell us any more about who helped to put together the plan. i know you say you have great economic minds that helped you? >> you want to know with my economic kitchen secret cabinet. >> shannon: is it a secret? >> no. i do have breaking news and that is we have gotten the results of the analysis and scoring of my plan and it was

done by mr. gary robins. a released respected analyst. it has shown that the 999 plan will enishially create 6 million jobs and bring the unemplowment rate down ipishially to about half of what it is today. that is great news. >> shannon: that is news every american wants to hear. >> and we will be releaseing that analysis in the next couple of days but it is hot off the press. >> shannon: thank you for sharing it with us. >> you got the breaking news, shannon. >> shannon: thanks for making time and we will keep following you on the campaign trail as long as you are out there. >> thank you. >> shannon: that's right. bit for a little tid tbit for you. is the 2012 gop presidential nomination still a two person race or is it a three person race or pigger tha beggar than? tweet to us. we already got quite a few in. we want to read your responses coming up later in this hour. also coming up, find out what

rick santorum had to say when i asked him about the heated moments in thursday's debate between himself and texas governor rick perry rnlgt the white house shifts into election mode as the president heads out west for fundraisers. steve centanni live in washington with more on that. >> obama hits the campaign trail on the west coast. not going after votes so much as dollars to fill his campaign coffers. he left the white house this morning for a busy day of fundraisers from seattle to san diego. tomorrow he will talk jobs at a round table discussion in silicon valley. and here in d.c. he tried to rally an important part of his base, the black congressional caucus. put on your marching shoes. shake it! stop complaining. symptostop grumbling. stop crying. we going to press on. we have work to do, cbc!

>> congressional black caucus that is. many democrats including those in the cbc believe the president gave away too much in the budget battle with republicans and now they are defending his plans to raise taxes on the wealthiest american. >> the fact of the matter is there is 22,000 people. >> you don't think that the top 10% of households pay. tonhey are going to have a of money. >> punishment they are paying 70% of the taxes. >> 22,000 millionaires pay less tax rate, under 15%. we have inequities. >> and republicans on capitol hill claim the president is being unnecessarily divisive. here is lindsay graham. >> he had input and advice in a bipartisan fashion from the gang of six but he is going the partisan route and trying to elevate class warfare and find points of disagreement rather than common ground and using in my view a strategy of class

warfare, divide and conquer to try to survive the next election. it won't work. >> meantime, the president is hoping to make it work, partly by siling his ideas on the road in three states over the next three days. shannon? >> shannon: , thanks, steve. >> turning up facts and looking into a deal that went back in 2009. peter doocy is live in washington with the story. hi, pete. we sold israel 55 gbu hard target penetrators often known as bunker busters back in 2009. the pentagon is saying we are not going to comment on the press reports but make no mistake about it the united states is committed to the security of israel and the israel's ability to maintain its military edge. the bunker busters are designed to take out targets buried underground. they would be handy if israel decides to strike iran's nuclear facility. and former u.s. ambassador to

the u.n. john bolton say they boost israel's arsenal and the fact president bus president od the sale says that could signal that he is ready to let israel take care of his dirty work. >> the obama administration will not use force, despite the fact iran is close to achieving a nuclear weapons cap capabili. if it falls to escapeddial to undertake that as they have done in the past against syria and iraq's nuclear reactor, i hope they have the capability to do this and i think bunker busters who add to the prospect that they could attack successfully. >> the deal was made by the bush administration who wanted to do it in 2000 because they said the proposed sale with contribute to the foreign policy and national scufort of the united states by helping to improve the security of a friendly country that continues to be a force for economic

progress in the middle east. that was 2005. there was a little holdup because there was a fear israel might be giving our military technology to the chinese. president bush said israel could have the bombs in 2009 and 2010. president bush had taken -- president obama had taken over by thefn an then and he gave tl approval. >> shannon: the palestinians making a bid for statehood but the u.s. and the rest calling instead for renewed peace talks. we spoke to the deputy speaker danny denan and he had this to say about the efforts of mahmoud abbas to achieve full membership in the u.n. last week in new york. >> like to have a shortcut and bypass the negotiations and come to the u.n. president obama is opposing the palestinians and he failed in achieving h his goal. there is no declaration for a palestinian state and he think he understood he needs to

negotiate with the israelis in order to achieve general peace. >> shannon: keeping it fair and balanced. here is the palestinian perspective, from the american task force on palestine and fiving you a chance to respond to the remark is. thanks for joining us. >> the president did submit an application for u.n. membership but said repetedly before during and after the submission that he agrees that the peace negotiations are the only way to achieve a final solution and creation of a palestinian state but he wants moreau k more rec. they made the application but parked it with the security council. they are not demanding a vote or forcing the u.s. to cast a veto or even see if there is a maij ilt of it. the fact there they he issued a steament on flid places us back in the existing international process. >> israeli prime minister netanyahu called, president

abbas said hey, we traveled thousands of miles, whie don't we meet while we are in new york. >> the. >> the number of settlers doubled during the high point of the peace talks from '93 to '98 from 200,000 to 400,000. and now it is over half a million. they are not prepared for another ten years of neck negotiations and tubing of settlers which would make a palestinian state impossible. they are looking for a fream work in terms of reference for negotiations so they know what they are talking about and where they are going. the israeli idea of negotiating without any predetermined conditions is an interesting one but you have to know what you are talking about. >> shannon: do you think the court is the best entity to come up with that. seems like the two sides can't even agree to the fndmental basic things that you need to talk about that.

>> the parties are too far apart to negotiate it on air own. we are in an election year in the united states so there is unlikely to be anything dramatic that happen for the next two months. we look to the quartet and or the eed u to come up with a compromise with regards to to a statement and a clearer frame work for negotiations when they do resume when the political situation allows that and also i think it is crew stha cruciao overreact. for congress and israel not to overreact and cut fund tion to the p.a. and internationals who work with the palestinians. there have been many gains on the ground in terms of quality of life, security cooperation between palestinians and israelis and laying the frame work for a successful palestinian state that can live in security alongside israel that has to be preserved and defended and even enhanced during this period in which a breakthrough in diplomacy is probably not likely.

>> shannon: president abbas mentioned the palestinian spring and being supportive of popular resistance in israel and for some people you use those terms and they have pictures of what happened in egypt and tunisia and people died. is there any way to clarify that. >> absolutely. it is clear about that, abbas has run for president in 2005 on a platform of nonvie lns and has been sleul prone to eye lefns. the approach to the u.n. is part of a whole pa palate of nonviolent. they are talking about peaceful marchs. i do think there is a danger it could get out of hand. i think the p.a. on the ground, the self-ruled air imra is a small area that they are allowed to rule as as much of a stake a is any one in maintaining law & order and security. what they are talking about is protesting in a nonviolent way. they are not talking about rioting, definitely not.

i don't think that is in the interest of the palestinian leadership or of israel. that is another reason why the funding to the p.a. should be minute tained to maintain security coop reaks and maintain a government that can maintain law & order even if they allow for peaceful protests for sphree do freedomn independence. >> thank you for providing the other side. >> i appreciate it. >> shannon: starting in 2014, saudi women will be given the right to vote and actually run in elections. the king made the announcement today. he said "the muslim woman must not be marginalized". however, the country does still ban women drives. they are required to drive with a male guardian. operation fast and furious. one journalist says a major shakeup in the justice department, a major scandal.

we'll talk to him, after the break. what's for breakfast? um... talk [ male announcer ] you love the taste of 2% milk.

but think about your heart. 2% has over half the saturated fat of whole milk. want to cut back on fat and not compromisen taste? try smart balance fat free milk. it's what you'd expect from the folks at smart balance.

>> shannon: more than six months after nato air strikes began in libya, quadaffi is still in hiding. some say life is returning to some what normal. david has the key tails.

>> reporter: despite the ongoing fighting else yr, tripoli has been peaceful for nearly a month since the rebels took over here. the u.s. embassy has reopened after it was attacked during the quadaffi regime. a new start for u.s. libyan relations after decades of hostility. the embassy in libya is the ambassador's official residence after the last one was burn down during the uprising. a man in libya says he is surprised to have returned so quickly after threats from the old rime. >> to be back here and experience talking to libyan ps on the street. i'm back for 24 hours and had so many of them say to me i don't want to eat, i don't want to drink, i just want to feel free. >> and people were exploring the freedom in different ways. people flocked to the renamed martyr square where quadaffi used to stage his rallies. and good business to be had in selling rebel member memorabi.

and at the same time, the fighting is continuing at this hour at quadaffi's hometown of sert. the rebel fighters pushed to within a mea mile of the town center. they are trying to expand west of the city but they do say that they are not pushing from other fronts because they want to help civilians get out and get away from the fighting there. at the same time today the libyan authorities announced they found a mass grave here in tripoli. over 1200 bodies of men were found near tripoli's prison. it is believed these people were killed during a protest at that jail back in 1996. so grim news from here. back to you, shannon. >> absolutely. david piper there with the latest in tripoli. thanks, david. >> shannon: the justice department has been taking a lot of heat from critics over

the fast and furious gun operation gone wrong and our next guest says another scandal is brewing, one he says should lead to mass resignations. clent, always good to see you. >> good to see you, shannon. >> shannon: what is the latest issue that has so many folks concerned about what is going on at the d.o.j.? it has to to with hiring. you might remember back when the bush administration was in charge, there was a big scandal at least, washington post and "new york times" played it as a big scandal saying that they had for career positions, seven service positions, supposedly apolitical positions they had used political criteria in the hiring practices. >> saying we have to have the same ideology to get hired. >> right. there was a big investigation. there was a special investigator, all sorts of stuff. obamaward to the obamaed a

administration and they are doing not just the same thing but to the nth degree and doing it far morse than the bush administration ever did without any attention until now from -- certainly from the big newspapers. pajamas media actually has done a freedom of information request and found out, they have analyzed the first 113 hires of civil servants in the civil rights division of the justice department have included 113 identifiable liberals. most of them active political liberals. now, if you are just hiring based on merit you are going to have sort of an even split. you will have some conservative and some moderate and some apolitical and some liberal. instead, 113 identifiable liberal. >> they will have folks that share the same ideology and

goals and mibses that they have as well. is there anything actionable or illegal about what they are doing if the nonpolitical hires politicaltheir poe he lit ca philosophy. >> it is actually legal. there was an investigation in the bush administration which came up with no charges. if you push it far enough it can be illegal. there are specific clauses in the federal law that say you cannot do this. this isn't just about spoils, this isn't just about well, we are hiring our guy and your guy, it has an effect on policy and the policies that the supposedly civil servant people follow are radically left wing. >> shannon: this is very interesting and i would imagine that there is still, you know, possibility of an investigation being launched as was in the bush d.o.j. we will keep an eye on us. and you will join us on power play live tomorrow morning at 11:30 on fox news online.

we will see you there and talk more about exactly what is going on and what happens next. >> exactly. thank you, very much, shannon. >> shannon: coming up, my one on one a gop contender rick santorum. find out what he has to say about fellow he candidates and the future of his campaign. >> i know most of you know rick santorum, he is a strong moral cultural conservative and i am and i'm proud of it. no one stood taller for the issue of life and marriage and faith and family in the united states senate than rick santorum and i'm proud of that. to keep in balance after 50, i switched to a complete multivitamin with more. only one a day women's 50+ advantage has ginkgo for memory and concentration, plus support for bone and breast health. a great addition to my routine. [ female announcer ] one a day women's.

♪ [ dog barks ] [ birds chirping ] ♪ [ mechanical breathing ] [ engine turns over ] ♪ [ male announcer ] the all-new volkswagen passat. a new force in the midsize category. ♪

>> shannon: two americans convicted of espionage in iran are home on u.s. soil. peter can the latest story. >> the two landed at jfk airport this morning after spending two years in an iranian private sector sorch.

prison. the two 29-year-old men boarded a plane in oman after being released from jail on $1 million jail. herman cain beat rick perry and mitt romney in a straw poll this weekend. perry got to 15.4% and romney 14%. perry and romney did skip the poll in orlando to attend campaign events in michigan. a march tben against social inequality turned violent this weekend in manhattan. five people sprayed with pepper spray and 80 toted away. they ney the system unjustly benefits the rich and hurts the poor. a play ground named in honor of the youngest victim in the tucson arizona shooting rampage that injured gabrielle giffords. it was dedicated saturday in

tucson. the nine-year-old had aspirations of a career in politics. those are the top stories right now, shannon. back to you. >> shannon: peter, thank you very much. i would say that the fact that he doesn't want to build a fence. he save gave a speech in 2001e he talked about buy national health insurance. >> have you ever even been to the border with mexico? >> yes. >> i'm surprised if you have but you weren't paying attention. >> the answer is, yes. >> the eye tina you are going to build a wall for 1200 miles and go 800 miles more to tee tijuana does not make sense. put the boots on the ground. we know how to make this work. >> shannon: the debate on the issue of immigration. i asked about the exchange in my one on one interview with

rick santorum in florida. >> the dwuf's position is out of the mainstream certainly in it isrimary and i think his -- in my mind indefensible. saying that he knows the border and yet the border has been porous in his ten years and he says the federal government has done a bad job and i know how to phoenix it and talks about deploying folks to fix it and it hasn't been fixed. and yet he is against building a fence. we know, where the fences have been built, it works. i don't see the reason why we don't continue to build. again, it is just simply a national security issue. it is one of what you should do what works and i think what governor perry is doing is playing politics, texas politics. it may be texas politics but i think it is what is in the best interest of our country. >> shannon: where does your campaign move specifically from here. your supporters are some of the most ardent. they love rick santorum.

where do you go from here in trying to build up to resonate a message to the wider audience so you are dproaing in th grows to stay viable. >> what i try to do is be authentic. you don't get sound bite eapses from me, you see one out on the trail every day giving thoughtful eapses and talking about what i would do and not mensing words. what you saw from some people up on that stage is a lot of fluff. i was scratching my head many times when particularly he govern romney and governor perry was answering questions. they finished answering and i was saying what are they saying and what are they for? it is like playing o offense. instead of trying to go to the hole and score and let people know what your moves are for the country they are trying to hold the ball in the lead. maybe that is a good strategy and maybe these folks here in the media will continue to cover that. i think what folks are looking

for is somebody who is going to be crisp and clean and authentic about what they believe in and what their vision is nor the country. >> shannon: how kerne concernee you that some media boild this down to a two man race. there were clearly others on the stage with something to say. >> what he know and this was said off of the stage is that four years ago the top two candidates at this point didn't receive nominations and the people of iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, they take this really seriously. they though this is an important job and they know who they support is going to make a big difference for the future of our country and not just going to give it to -- no offense to picking on the fox people -- who charlie krauthammer thinks they should vote for or who the editors of fox news cover in their feature. they will kek the tires and two i go out to iowa.

i have been to 60 counties. counties in south carolina. and every in new hampshire. we are working hard and i feel good that in the end if we are going to fix it that is what we have to do. we have the most experience. we have the track record of winning a tough election in a swing state that if we win we going to have a republican president. no one else can say that. mitt romney came from massachusetts but i don't know -- i can win, pennsylvania. and if we do we are in good shape. >> shannon: i had a great time talking with several of the candidates. they all have an open invitation to america's news headquarters. we would love to have them. herman cain may have won the straw poll in florida but is it going to transfer into actual campaign momentum? --will ask our poe let cal

politicalst panel, right after the break. e look of wrinkles instantly, and the look of deep wrinkles in 14 days. ready, set, smooth... regenerist. from olay.

it's the master of all machines. so powerful, anything you download on your computer is available on your droid bionic, instantly, wirelessly, at verizon 4g lte speed. never sync with a cord again. the droid bionic by motorola. control it and you control everything. the two trains and a bus rider. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic. for 80 years, we've been inspired by you. and we've been honored to walk with you to help you get where you want to be ♪ because your moment is now. let nothing stand in your way. learn more at keller.edu.

>> shannon: herman cain shot to the top of the gop presidential field and took home a huge win in yesterday's straw poll in florida but will the win give his campaign real momentum or is it still really about romney and perry? joining us of former dep any national finance director for the dnc, david mercer and sherilyn holly lebon. what does this really do for herman cain? an anomaly or science building momentum behind it? >> i hope for herman's sake he is able to raise more money because he has been lagging behind with finances. the other thing to keep in mind is that he is very bold and energetic. i think he has worked hard for this. in florida he was giving severalspeeches and seven ram impromptu throughout the whole four days. in the end, of course, we know

the straw poll elector ate is different from the general election electorate. >> shannon: and talk tion to the delegates a lot came into the week thinking they were going with perry. he shot to the polls. they were dis' pointed in how he performed in the debate and you start hearing them talk about herman cain and wowed them that night. he is a warm person, whether you like his politics or not once you meet him it is hard to resist herman cain. david, how bad was the week for rick perry? >> very bad for perry and the straw poll paid it a bad day for the republican party. what we are seeing as you just mentioned with perry leading in the polls in florida and comes out getting whacked by 22%. i think it is the misread of the party and the perry campaign as well as shockers of the 2012 elections. and i think that kind of uncertainty that is showing itself within this nomination

process for the gop kind of spells a significance to obama as well in his communication with the american public in trying to put porg forth what solutions will h help the economy he has tried to point out the obstruction or the tea party getting in the way. the new conservative brand we call it obstructionism with my democratic hat on but that new brand is getting away in providing any stability or uncertainty which is the same effect having on the economy when you go up on congress. >> shannon: this is a centric question. i want to make sure we hit on this. there is also down there about senator mark overbeel. he is young and hispanic. a lot of time that he is going to be on -- a lot think he will be on any one's short list for v.p. do you think herman cain, people will say he wants the

top spot. if he doesn't win it does this make him a viable v.p.? >> especially with the straw cain has as herman cane cane message that resonates is with people. a lot of people would like the tax code simplified. and the way he resonates with the voters is something people love. they love his energy. back to david's point about uncertainty. i have to comment on that. the only uncertainty we have is economic uncertainty and what i think many democrats fail to realize, which the republican candidates all realize, is that the economy as we have today it the economy we are going to have november 2012. and if things don't dramatically change i think any republican candidate is better than what we have got. we have a president that yesterday says to the congressional whra black caucue off your slippers diswhrarks is implying that black people with

16.7% unemployment are staying home in their slippers. i doubt it. they are all looking for jobs and waiting for the protesters for the president to come upwag with a plan. perhaps he should have been working on a jobs bill. now, it is three years into it and it is too late. whatever we do now we are not going have a near term solution. that is what i think unfortunately democrats have foregotten. >> shannon: i want to ask you for one more reaction. who is the next person to lead the gop race? >> it will -- to leave the gop race? >> it will be bal bachmann. >> interesting how things shift so quickly. one virginia high school sets up a display on law and actually includes the ten commandments. is that unconstitutionally endorsing religion in a school? stay with us. we will have debate on that with both sides coming up. sweetie i think you need a little extra fiber in your diet.

carol. fiber makes me sad. oh common. and how can you talk to me about fiber

while you are eating a candy bar? you enjoy that. i am. [ male announcer ] fiber beyond recognition. fiber one. [ male announcer ] this is what it's like getting an amazing discount on a hotel with travelocity's top secret hotels. the easy way to get unpublished discounts of up to 55% off top hotels. harpist not included. ♪

>> shannon: we are waiting for the two american hikers recently released from an iranian prison to speak. they are giving a press conference in new york this afternoon. they are actually in the united states this morning after spending two years behind bars in an iranian prison. fox will bring that to you live.

should it be illegal for a high school to include the ten commandments in a display about laws? a high school has done that and is being sued by the freedom from relidgen foundation. joining us it the founder of liberty counsel and via skype is dan barker. om the freedom from religion foundation. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> good afternoon. >> shannon: dan, why did you decide to sue the school? >> well, the school had the ten commandments all by them sflts. somebody complained anded they took it down and put it back and the community got mad and they took it down and put it back and then dropped to try to cha isd end run around quha is clearly an illegal practice. the first amendment alone, i am the lord thy god. establishes a religion. establishes the nation of

israel. the ten commandments are not the be a issues for american law. many of the ten commandments are antiamerican and contradict the first amendment. this isn't a chance to sneak religion -- they are trying to sneak reillinois governor rod schools.ichen intreligion intoc matthewon: let's bring math in to get the other side of this. is it appropriate for the ten commandments to be in school or is it simply as dan says an attempt to get reillinois to get religion backichen back into the public schools. >> they never said it would be inappropriate to always display the ten commandments in any kind of circumstance. any one who would say that the ten commandments have nothing to do with american law and government is ignore rant of american history and law and government. this eincludes ten equal sized frames.

one is an explan torrey fact that talks about the documents displayed on the law have had a profound influence on american law and government including the magna carte. the declaration of independence and other documents including the ten commandments. when you go to the united states supreme court both in and outside the building there are approximately 50 displays of the ten commandments in the building. it is the seal of the 9th circuit court of appeals that contains the ten commandments and you can see it in courts of law all over this country tore one simple and very profound reason and that is western civilization and american law and government have been profoundly influenced by the ten commandments. >> shannon: dan, let me ask you with all of those things in mind is the filing of the lawsuit to bring awareness to the attention of what you call a protest or do you think that this lawsuit has a good chance of succeeding on the merits? >> this case has already been determined.

the u.s. supreme court has determined in the stone decision that the ten commandments do not belong in a public high school and what the court cited is that this is an attempt by religious people to try to influence people in religion. the u.s. supreme court does not have the ten commandments anywhere. there are visual representations but there is no text anywhere. if the text were there telling us that we must believe and worship on a certain day of the week, that would be found unconstitutional. the 2005 case was not involving school children. there are millions of good americans with children in the school who are not christians or jews who disagree with the religious sentiments of the ten commandments. talk about it in a legal class or h history class but do not display it as if it were an important legal document or had

anything more than a passing influence on the forming of our. >> shannon, i would -- >> shannon: we are almost out of time. >> i would invite dan to visit the u.s. supreme court. parts of the text are in scribed inside the court and it has profoundly influenced american law and government. any one who denies that is a denier of hitler torrey. thhistory. it has influenced law in this country. >> maybe we could take a field trip. it is a beautiful place. gentlemen, thank you both for weighing in. up next, we have your twitter responses. stay tuned. [ male announcer ] butter. love the taste, but want to cut back on f?

try smart balance buttery sead. 's heart-healthier than butter. with omega-3s. 64% less saturated fat. andlinically proven to help support healthy cholesterol. ♪ put a little love in your heart ♪ this is not how witness protection works! when we set you up with that little hardware store we didn't intend for your face to be everywhere. but fedex office makes it so easy. not only do they ship stuff, they print flyers, brochures -- everything i need to get my name outhere. that's the problem. now we need to give you a third identity. you're paul matheson. and you're gonna run your business into the ground. erik gustafson would never do that! there is no erik gustafson. hey that's erik gustafson!!! there is no erik gustafson!!!!! [ male announcer ] small business solutions. fedex. solutions that matter.

>> shannon: we have been asking you at home is the gop presidential nomination still a person race or or more. or a lot weighed in. shawn writes i never vote republican but herman cain has my vote. charles says it is a three man race. herman cain answers the questions. no dodging and no spin by this guy. bennett writes it is still an eight person race. it is still any one's race. and danny says it is at least a five person race. thanks for sharing. we always love your tweets. up next, a special presentation of thursday night's debate. i'm shannon bream, thanks for captioned by closed captioning services, inc.