less than spectacular debate performance rick perry comes out swinging, calling the massachusetts governor a flipflopper. we've heard that before. where does this go? good morning. a texas guy calling a massachusetts guy that, too? good morning, i'm bill hemmer. martha: dejavu, right? good morning, everybody, i'm martha maccallum. so the perry camp is trying to hit romney on two fronts, linking him to president obama's education policy and then changing his mind about it, so this is the percent time anywhere you're going to see this ad, this big comeback from perry. check it out: >> i think secretary duncan has done some good things, he's the current secretary of education, he has a program called race to the top which encourages schools to have more choice, more testing of kids, more evaluation of teachers, those are things that i think make sense tkpwhrao there's one person on this stage that is for obama's race to the top and that is governor romney.

he said so just this last week. being in favor of the obama race to the top, that is not conservative. >> did governor perry say something that wasn't true? >> i'm not sure exactly what he was saying, i don't support any particular program that he's describing. >> race to the top which encourages schools to have more choice, more testing of kids, more evaluation of teachers, those are things are i -- i think make sense. bill: romney's camp says that ad does not tell the whole story. byron york, washington examiner, fox news contributor, welcome to you. >> good morning bill. bill: lay out the issue. does perry have a point? >> well, it's a very effective ad, portraying romney as a flipflopper, and this was not a good moment at the debate for romney. it made him look kind of weaselly when in fact he could have defended what he said. as far as the romney people are concerned, they're saying look, that doesn't tell the whole story, and it is a fact that after romney said those are some things that i think make some

sense, that is race to the top, he then said for me, get that back to the state level. which is a different kind of message. bill: now, here is what romney said in part during our debate last thursday night on this issue, again, outside the ad. go. >> education has to be held at the local and state level, not at the federal level. we need to get the federal government o of education. >> i'm not sure exactly what he's saying, i don't support any particular program that he's describing. bill: okay, now. in the end, this is going to be debated back and forth and we'll see what voters decide here, but you're saying the ad does work for perry. >> oh sure. when you have romney saying i don't support any particular program that, sounds lawyery, it sounds like weasel words, and obviously, romney's big weakness overall in the campaign is this image of him as a flipflopper. it plagued him in 20 07 and 2008 over abortion and other issues and it's still there. bill: byron, thank you. because the ad is getting a lot of attention starting

today. we're going to talk a bit later this morning now with one of the heads of the rick perry campaign. stay tuned for that later today, the communications director, ray sullivan, his reaction to all this and the response, coming up here in "america's newsroom". martha: meanwhile, bill, mitt romney making what is sort of a mandatory stop for any candidate, the old meeting with mr. donald trump in new york. so the donald sat down with trump in new york city, trump says after meeting with romney and perry, he says it's pretty tough to compare the two. listen to this: >> i met with rick perry, i really liked him a lot, i thought he was a terrific guy, today i met with mitt romney, absolutely very impressive. we had some good -- very different people. it's very interesting. and i don't want to get into it, but they are very, very different people. but i was very impressed today with mitt romney. if i'm going to endorse somebody, i want to endorse somebody that really can turn this country around. martha: well, you know, trump was going to get into the race at one point.

so now who he endorses may have a little bit of a punch in this whole gop nomination game. so he met earlier with rick perry earlier in the month, i should say -- say, and herman cain is next up for the old meeting with donald trump. bill: interesting he's the rite of passage, donald trump, you got to come to new york and talk to him! sarah palin had a slice of pizza with trump. we still don't know her intentions for 2012. a top aide saying we might be days away from a decision on whether the former alaska governor will make a run for the nomination. in a letter to donor, the chief of palin's political action committee saying the governor is, quote, on the verge of making her decision. if governor palin wants to get in she's got to work quickly, the deadline for primary ballots in a number of states is only a few weeks away. martha: all right, back to capitol hill now where the crisis has been averted once again at least for a little while until mid november, the senate passed a bill that would keep the government running until i think november 16th is the date and now it heads to the house where it is expected to pass.

senate majority leader harry reid saying that everybody basically got what they wanted in this deal, he also, and that the house he says should act as soon as they get back next week. here's what he said: >> now, i hope the house is going to come back from their little break here and complete this work as fast as they can. it's certainly something the country needs. i can't understand why they possibly could question about what they need to do now. martha: so the bill also includes more than $2 billion in disaster aid. they cut back on it a little bit and there were some spending cuts as well. bill: funny how they can make all that work. so how many times did we face a government shutdown so far this year? between march and april, two continuing resolutions to fund the government were passed to avoid a shutdown, april 1st, a resolution was passed to keep everything running until october, the last government shutdown was late 1995. martha: and president obama on the road, pushing his jobs plan. the's in california

yesterday, defending his decision to raise taxes on the rich. take a listen to a piece of that: >> we've got to make some choices and we've got to decide, what are we willing to pay for and make sure that those of us who benefitted the most, that we're giving something back. a fair share for everybody. that's not class warfare. republicans are going around talking about well, that's class warfare. you know what? if asking a billionaire to pay the same tax rate as a plumber is tax war tpaerbgs then sign me up! sign me up! i'll wear that charge as a badge of honor. martha: been saying that lately, i'll wear that charge with a badge of honor is how he's taking this on. so we did a little digging in terms of class warfare and what is fair and found this in terms of what the wealthy pay in taxes. in 2009, 230,000 taxpayers were in that million dollars tax bracket. they paid $177.5 billion in

taxes. but those taxpayers accounted for just .2% of all federal returns out there and paid over 20 percent of all of the federal income taxes that are paid in the whole country. so .2% paid more than 20 percent of the whole ca pwaolgts -- ca bootel in terms of paying the bottom's bills. bill: in the phao*eupls they've got this jobs bills and secretary geithner praising that plan but not disputing a new report saying that each job created will cost about $200,000 per. geithner says that putting a price tag on each job is the wrong way to look at the issue. he added that this is the only plan on the table to get the economy going again and get people back to work, he says it, quote, has a very good chance of passing. we shall see in congress, martha. martha: boy, and there is a stunning new statement from the head of one of the nation's biggest, most blue chip companies, coca cola, what could be a more american company than coca colkwrarbgs right, the chief

executive says now that he believes that the united states is less business friendly than china. if you can believe that. that is quite a powerful statement, coming from the head of coca cola. let's bring in charles payne, a regular on varney & company and anchor of the 2:00 p.m. show on fox. good morning. this really leapt out at me when i saw this this morning, because the head of coca cola is saying that basically he thinks it's easier to do business in china these days than it is right here at home. what do you make of all that? >> >> reporter: first of all, it's frightening. you are talking to the quintessential american company and you know what, he's telling the truth. he's not the first big time executive to say it, and it's not just china, martha. he went on to say that if you're talking about american companies doing business around the world, china, russia, europe, japan, he says all these countries were better to do business n. switzerland, every country around the world essentially feels like it's better to do business than here in america, which has become completely

antibusiness friendly. martha: you know, we talked about obviously regulations. one of the things he cited were the u.s. tax rules and some might look at that and say wait a minute don't a lot of corporations get out of paying taxes at all, like general electric did last year? is it tax rules or regulation? >> it's a combination of both. what he's really talking about and people should pay attention to this, one of the things, the large companies are taxed where they do business so if you do business in china you're going to be taxed in china. if they want to bring those profits back to america they're going to face a giant tax bill again. sohat most are saying is why do we want to be taxed twice on this, why not redeploy this money in countries that are growing. a lot of the companies would love to bring that money back, unfortunately, they can't do it, not if they don't want to pay significant taxes and we're the only nation, by the way, developed nation that's putting pressure on the multi-national corporations. so when people talk about jobs going overseas and things like that it's

disingenuous. we need to change tax rules. if we think the bridges areeld on, our tax policy is old and we need to redo it. martha: there's a lot of talk about multi-nationals and businesses and certainly those who make money at the top of those companies. charles, thank you very ch, we're going to dig more into this, coca cola, saying it's better to do business in china, bill! coca cola of all people! than here in the united states. bill: those are some of the stories we're watching. a lot more coming up in "america's newsroom". brand tphurbgs earth rattling video from inside one of america's iconic monuments, people running out of the washington monument during that earthquake last month. new details on how much damage the monument sustained this morning. martha: there's more on that. stick around for that. plus a gop presidential hopeful picking up a major endorsement from the tea party but which one of these men could it be? >> bill: president obama, taking new heat for telling african-americans to stop complaining. >> take off your bedroom

slipper, put on your marching shoes, shake it off! stop complaining! stop grumbling" stop crying. we are going to press on. we've got work to do. bi-bill congresswoman maxine waters who says the president would not have said that to other minity groups. would he?

martha: well, there's a new effort to crack down on cyberbullying after the suicide of a gay teen who friends say was bullied for years. new york state senator jeff klein proposing legislation that would make cyber stalking a misdemeanor and if that bullying leads to a death then that would be considered manslaughter, with a penalty of up to 15 years in prison. this is the first time we're getting a lot more specific about where these kind of crimes would lead in terms of charges. now, between 20 06 and 2010, 34 states enacted some form of legislation that address ed cyber bull we kwr-g -- bully, the majority establishing sanctions for all forms of cyberbullying

at schools. in 2007, about 4 percent of students reported having been cyber bullied. bill: big issue for parents. newt gingrich, picking up a big endorsement from the tea party, juddson phillips says newt is the most electable and also impressed with gingrich's debate performances like this one: >> when your brother-in-law is unemployed, it's a recession. when you're unemployed, it's a depression, when jimmy carter is unemployed, it's a recovery. bill: juddson phillips, founder of the tea party nation, with us now. good morning to you sir, how are you in nashville? >> hey bill, i'm good, how are you? >> bill: doing fine. why newt gingrich? >> well, i was looking for someone, i wanted to go ahead and pick who i liked. and there were certain criteria i was looking for, somebody who's conservative, somebody who's electable, somebody who's got some national experience and most

importantly, i was looking for somebody who's got vision, not only to be able to dismantle omabacare when they get elected but to start to work on dismantling big government, and when you start looking at all the really great republican candidates that are out there, there's really only one who fulfills all those, particularly the vision requirement, and that's newt gingrich. bill: this is what you wrote on your website, you say gingrich is the candidate who has the vision to fundamentally change the federal government, gingrich has the unique capability to be the field general, he is the big idea man, much as ronald reagan was. that is huge praise. reagan. >> it is. absolutely. and think about gingrich's history for a second. when he came into congress in the '70s, republicans were such a minority, sometimes the democrats didn't even bother to tell them what was going on, and republican leadership just kind of didn't care about it and it was gingrich who had the vision to be able to say look, we can take control of congress, and we know what happened in 1994. we had the conservative

revolution, gingrich became speaker. we need that kind of leadership now to replace obama. one of the things i've always said is it's not enough to replace bad leadership. we've got to replace bad leadership with good leadership and part of that compon -- component of good leadership is leadership for the future. there are great guys out there running. bill: i apologize for the interruption but in august we found gingrich way down in the polls, he was eighth among republicans with only 3 percent of the vote. that is a tall mountain to climb. why not michele bachmann? she's head of the first tea party caucus in congress. what's wrong with her? >> i love michele bachmann, i think the world of michele bachmann, but the one place i find fault with her is i don't see the big vision with her that i see with gingrich. she comes out, she is very strong on a lot of good issues, but i don't see her as being the big idea candidate the way newt gingrich is. bill: gingrich, he's

struggling with money, he's low in the polls. can he make up on both counts? >> i think he k he's been rising in the polls, he had that initial bump back in may when his campaign basically de camped and i think most went back to rick perry which is where i think a lot of them them came from, but since then he has been slowly regrouping, he's had some very impressive tkae bait performance and is rising in the polls. one of the polls i think came up the other day, now has him as the number three candidate, so given the volatility of the republican field over the last few months, i'd be happy with a candidate who's making slow, steady progress. bill bell volatile indeed. we'll see where it goes. a lot of people are surprised with the endorsement, thank you for explaining your position today, juddson phillips in nashville, tennessee. >> thank you for having me. bill: you're welcome. nineteen past. martha. martha: her -- herman cain has been getting a lot of buzz after the orlando debate. watch this: >> unlike governor romney's plan, my plan throws out the old wufpblt he's hooked to

the old tax code. that dog won't hunt. >> [applause] >> martha: a lot of crowd response to that one. then he went on to crush thespection in the florida straw poll and that was a big surprise to a lot of folks. so what has changed in the voters' minds with regard to herman cain? it's fascinating and frank luntz will be here to talk to us about it. bill: guess who else is here? he is fill up the room, can't he? bill o'reilly on the story of an assassination that changed our nation forever. terrific read. martha: sure is. if you're on the go, take fox news with you, bill and i will go with you wherever you want to go, fox mobile, download our app. we will be right back after this break.

bill: some massachusetts lawmakers looking to crack down on illegal imtkpwraeurbgs a new bill that would require anyone apply fog services or jobs in that state to show proof of citizenship. >> this has got to end. >> when someone is arraigned in a court in the commonwealth or appears for the first time even in civil court, our bill would require their immigration status to be verified. >> tens of millions of tax dollars are being wasted or those who are here illegally >> the bill is so far from anything, having nothing to do with this problem. >> i'm not interested in legislation that's just about, you know, a headline around things that we're doing already. bill: supporters are saying they hope to call for a vote by the end of this year. martha: all right. there's the music and this is the election news, folks.

gop presidential hopeful herman cain really been on fire the last couple of days, he won the florida straw poll by a landslide, 37 percent, he got in florida, and according to frank luntz, he really fared very well in terms of connecting with people at the debate in orlando. check out the lines, you're going to watch the lines that we're familiar with now, when cain answers this question. watch: >> treat all businesses the same and the people who are paying only payroll tax, 15.3, that 15.3, they don't have to pay, now they only have to pay that 9 percent. and unlike governor romney's plan, my plan throws out the old one, he's still hooked to the current tax code. that dog won't hunt. [applause] >> martha: frank luntz is here to explain all those lines you see on the screen, he's author of "win, taking your business from ordinary to extraordinary.

". >> that dog won't hunt. herman cain has from of the best phrases of the campaign so far. not only does he connect with people on a human level, but when he talks policy, he does it in a straightforward, direct fashion. candidates sometimes stumble over their words and can't explain where they really stand. herman cain says what he means, means what he says, and boy does he connect with voters. martha: he truly did. you know, you didn't feel like they were phrases that he had practiced, necessarily, and i did hear that he told his handler to go leave him alone for a couple of days beforehand, they did a lot of prep work and he said you know, what last 48 hours, i'm going to be on my own and get ready for this thing and that seemed to help him a lot as well. let's listen to this from him and get your thoughts. >> we also made -- he also made it real clear that he wasn't sure how this administration stood when it came to israel. i made it clear, which i would also make it clear to all of the other people in the world, that if you mess with israel, you're messing

with the united states of america. we stand solidly behind israel. >> i think this is something you can hold on to, if you're messing with israel, you're messing with the u.s. it doesn't take a minute to explain what he does so, he is conservative and he says things that conservatives appreciate, he's a businessman so he doesn't sound like a politician, and he's got the freedom of being able to say what he really feels. i think that's why he's doing so well. martha: clearly. you saw that big spike at the end and the president has been criticized for not just sort of coming out and saying it in that way. he may feel that way but he's sort of equivocated around that and it's gotten a huge response as well. let's look at leadership and get your reaction. >> what americans are looking for in order to build their confidence is leadership. there's a severe deficiency of leadership in washington d.c. and when we fill that

void, i believe the american people will begin to develop some confidence again. in terms of believing in this nation, ronald reagan was one who said we are a shining city on a hill. we slid down the side of that hill. americans want somebody who's going to lead them back up to the top of that hill. that's how we turn this country around. >> you can hear it in the room. >> you hear it in the room and you hear it wherever he goes and i think it's because he's a successful ceo, he was a successful leader from the association, this guy is a restauranteur and these are true entrepreneurs, small business people, struggling every day, so he gets how they feel and he communicates in a way that they see themselves in him, and i'm surprised, frankly, that he doesn't get more attention on networks like this, because based on the reactions of my viewers and my focus groups and the viewers in the rooms in these session, these debates, very often he's the winner. martha: you know what's

fascinating to me, before we go, frank, people are open. they go into these things and they're open and we just saw the tea party leader who has decide that newt gingrich is his high, then you've got herman cain winning the straw poll in florida and you have to work the straw poll pretty hard but you can't deny the reaction in that room and what you saw on your dial there, so clearly people are open minded and they liked herman cain in the last few days. >> and go to luntz global.com, you, too, can participate in a fox news focus group. martha: sounds like a lot of fun. go there and sign up. >> you should. martha: wish we could! >> bill: i'll pay you! martha: what could be better. thank you very much. bill: he has earned the military's highest award, saving the lives of 36 people in war. we had the honor of meeting sergeant dakota meyer here in "america's newsroom" last week and now he's being offered a chance at a different type of brotherhood. we're telling you why he's turning that brotherhood down. >> plus, president obama in

hot water with some folks after this. >> i don't have time to feel sorry for myself. i don't have time to complain. i'm going to press on! i expect all of you are with me and press on! stop complaining. stop grumbling. stop crying. martha: that got a lot of reaction to that. so the question is, president obama, losing some support from african-american voters. we're going to talk about that, coming up.

martha: well, president obama reaches out to african-american voteners brand new interview on bet and recently he's been taking some heat for ignoring his base, but the president says that not everyone is being critical of him with that. take a look. >> the other thing i want to make sure that you don't just kind of slip in there, this notion that african-american leaders of late have been critical. there have been a handful of african-american leaders who were critical, they were critical when i was running for president. there's always going to be someone who's critical of the president of the united states. martha: those comments came just days after critics took aim at president obama's fiery speech to the congressional black caucus. here's part of -- part of what he said there. >> take off your bedroom slippers, put on your marching shoes, shake it off, stop complaining, stop grumbling, stop crying, we are going to press on, we've got work to do. martha: congressman maxine -- congresswoman i should

say maxine waters called those comments curious and this is what he said, he certainly didn't tell the hispanic caucus to stop complaining, she went on to say he didn't treat gays or jewish people that way,et. very fiery comments from her, we've heard them from her all over the fence lately. joined by hillary shelton, vice president of advocacy policy for the naacp. good to have you here today, sir. >> great to be with you. martha: let me ask you this personally. when you hard those comments from president obama, when he said get off your bedroom slippers and get out there and march, did that offend you? >> not at aufplt i was at that speech saturday night with the congressional black caucus. what he's saying is we have to pitch in together and work to move this agenda forward. he has a wonderful bill we believe is going to address our nation's problems in the unemployment arena and our economic woes all together, so all of us working together is the only way we're going to move this agenda and this bill forward. martha: but maxine waters clearly said she was offended by it, and i want

to play some comments from denny borelli who i interviewed on this topic, a tea party activist and fox news contributor. here's what she said about the president's comments at cbc. >> he's playing the class warfare card which in my opinion is racist there and he's also whipping up blacks in the community with the messages of him pushing for his bigger government and he's going forth with the congressional black caucus is clearly trying to whip up racial tension in our country. martha: what do you think about that, sir? >> well, i think it misses the point. the important point here is that what he's doing is trying to push us all to be actively engaged in the progress. democracy is not a spectator sport, it requires our active participation. criticism is sometimes very helpful part of that, as long as that criticism is constructive and helping to move the agenda forward. i disagree with what she had to say. martha: morgan free -- morgan freeman earlier this week was quoted as saying --

saying basically that the tea party activism, he said basically underlying the whole thing, they want this black man out of the white house. do you agree with that, do you believe that? >> i think there are some aspects of the tea party that are still problematic. we've talked about that in the naacp, it's on our website, naacp.org. overall the tea party is respectful movement in our country, it raises issues of concerns, whether you agree or disagree, they're actively engaged in the process but there are some elements of that tea party that have stooped to the points of being racist in their rhetoric and things that have been done. martha: do you think that morgan freeman's comments or even the''s comments at cbc, do they help the whole process here, do they keep our focus on what's really important in this country in terms of coming together and finding jobs or do you wish that morgan freeman wouldn't say things like that? i think morgan freeman is right and i agree with the president as well, there are obstacles and distractions in our society all the time, those racist comments by

some elements of the tea party are that kind of distraction. there really is no place in a civilized society for those kind of comment necessary our democratic system. martha: so do you think there are people in this country who want the president out of the white house because he is a black man? do you believe that that's an issue in this country today, is that a problem for us, where we stand here in 2011? >> i think there's a small minority of people that are that narrowly focused unfortunately. we still have those of very old style racist mentality. it is not the majority of our society, it's not the majority of the tea party but unfortunately, it's still there. martha: this is a country that elected president obama, and you know, herman cain won the straw poll just the other day in florida. i don't hear people speaking to these issues, i don't think these are the issues that hang people up these day, i think the issues that hang people up are jobs and performance and whether or not they think the president is doing a good job. isn't that where the conversation needs to be centered, on leadership and job creation? >> absolutely. unfortunately we still have those elements but you're absolutely right, most

americans want to see this problem repaired, want to see this problem fixed, they're actively engaged, they're looking for good leadership and very well, we have that in many ways, so it's good to see we have a president that's leading us to a process of supporting an agenda that would help build jobs, secure our economy, repair our nation's schools and move our nation forward. that's a very good thing, we unfortunately have those distractions that would rather see a group of people simply because of the color of their skin hurt in some way and segmented from the overall society. martha: i think most agree they want to judge the president on the job performance alone and that's where it is this day. hillary shelton, thank you, good to have you back as always. >> thank you. bill: chris christie, leaving voters guessing, no word on a possible white house run but the new jersey governor is attend ago fund-raiser and giving a speech in california. what about that run for president?

here's his lieutenant governor on that topic. >> i don't think the governor is going to run for president. this is what you pay me to do. i'm very -- i very often say as lieutenant governor i don't get a salary, any of you are familiar with the law surrounding the new position of lieutenant governor, you know there was no office, no staff, no salary, and certainly, no pension. for governors not running for president -- the governor is not running for president. >> christie speaks at the reagan library tonight in california. and speaking of california, and all the country, we're going to debut something today that's going to ride us through campaign 2012 and we're superexcited about it. it's all new software, whole new program for the billboard back here, that can take us deep into the historical data going back to 2004, the economy, which will be issue number one, as martha just mentioned there, our candidate tracker which will tell us what kind of money each man or woman has at the moment, for example, you click on the economy right now, what we have done is we've set this up basically in two color scheme, the darker the red, the more trouble your state, the lighter the green, the

better off you are. there's not a whole lot of green on the map behind us. we can drill down in places like california, for example, this is where the president spent the night overnight last night, and jobs in california, going back to november of 2008, when americans voted, california's lost 471,000 jobs. the unemployment rate in the goalen state is 12.1%. that is three points higher than the national average. the economy will be huge in california come election day on 2012. the other thing we can look at, historical dat kwrarbgs take a look at what happened in 2004 and 2008, we can pick up trends, when bush beat perry -- kerry, how much ed was there was in the middle of the country, drill down and figure out why people voted the way they did and in 2008, the red that is republican and blue that is democrat, how much barack obama made inroads in the central part of the country, it was a huge part

of his victory in 2008. also the candidate tracker. when it comes to money, and money is so important, trying to get a campaign running, democrat, republican, what we can do, whether it's mitt romney or rick perry or ron paul, newt gingrich, herman cain, we'll follow how much money they have in the bank, how much money they've raised, how much money they've spent and ultimately how that stacks up against the man in the white house, barack obama. there is so much information contained in this screen behind me as we move throughout the next 12 to 13 months, it will be a fantastic tool for us to explain to you what the issues are in america and how they're developing. so we've got that working for you. also, what do you think online, what is the most important issue for you in 2012? foxnews.com/"america's newsroom". martha: that works really well! bill: vote, we'll bring you the results throughout the entire show. martha: i thought that worked really well. that's going to be awesome to have. bill we call that fancy

schmancy! >> martha: has a ton of information. bill will be pushing the buttons on that all the way through the election and giving us lots of good information. coming up, president obama's new health care law is on the fast track to the supreme court. there's a very big development in this. should it land there, it is likely to happen in the sweet spot of head going the 2012 election. how will that affect this race? that story is coming up. bill: also more on one of our top stories, rick perry hitting mitt romney, calling him a flipflopper. >> being in favor of the obama race to the top, that is not conservative. >> i'm not sure exactly what he's saying. i don't support any particular program that he's describing. bill: romney's campaign says a big part of that answer was left out of the ad. a senior member of perry's campaign is live here today in only moments.

bill: there about big developments in the battle over the health care law, the white house says it will not seek an appeal on the health care challenge, which

means the supremes can take up the issue, an issue in the middle of campaign 2012. karen henretty, communications director, and sal lacone, founder of vision movement.org, we have the left and right here, good morning. karen, i think the big point in all this is you could have an issue that is decided at the supreme court level, one of the biggest issues in 2012, right in the heat, the heart of the campaign. now, let's say the supreme court says omabacare is cool by us, it's the law of the land. how does that affect turnout? how does that affect the vote? >> i'm not sure it affects the vote if the supreme court -- i'm not sure that the turnout is the issue. i think the -- i think that if the courts overturn the mandate, i think that would actually have a much bigger effect. i think it could depress democrat turnout and i think it would really fire up

particularly independent voters. you know, there's a new poll out there, new gallup poll out today that shows half of the country believes the federal government is getting so big and out of control that it's taking away freedoms from individuals, and i think that the individual mandate at the federal level is really the epitome of taking away freedom from people. bill: so it's that element that's out that fires up the middle, the independents? >> i think it is a message to the independents that the president they currently have in office is the man who the supreme court has determined is, in fact, validating what they believe, which sha the federal government is taking away rights and freedoms from individuals. bill: i'm going to come back to you in a moment. i want to flip it around and find out what you think about that. >> i have to cay, karen -- say, karen is wrong. let's be clear, more judges have vote -- voted that the health care reform is constitutional than have

not. number one. number two, there may be a small fringe of the republican base that cares desperately about this issue but the majority of americans first of all support the health care reform legislation that the president passed and second of all, karen -- >> bill: i understand the point you're making there, but if the supremes rule against you and they throw it out, they say this is entirely against the constitution, what does that do to democratic turnout november next year? >> look, i think democratic turnout, and frankly, mainstream republican and independent turnout is going to be affected more by jobs and the economy which is what voters want to see both parties focus on, not refighting the fight of a couple of years ago. the reality is, first of all i'm confident this will be held up as constitute, most judges have said it is, second of all, let's be clear, it is a republican idea. this was john mccain's idea that the president adopted after republicans were complaining about aversion of the legislation that wouldn't have involved a mandate. bill: you think the supreme

court holds it up. karen, what do you think the nine do? >> i think if it's on the mandate, can the federal government mandate that people across the country have to purchase something across interstate lines, i think that will be shot down, and i think it -- i do agree that jobs and the economy is going to be the number one driver of the election next year, which is why i think the president is in such a precarious position for reelection. but if you look at this health care mandate, once that goes into effect, fortunately, it won't go into effect before the president -- before the 2012 election, but it just really -- it just epitomizes everything that i think people are so -- are so obvious freighted, 50 percent of people think their freedom is taken away and when they're told you have to buy something that you aren't currently buying and if you don't we're going to taxer or penalize you -- >> bill: karen, you hear

that music? that means the producers are really ticked off at me! sally, last sw*e next time, all right? >> all righty. bill: terrific panel, thank you. martha. martha: a whale of a tale when a fishing trip goes horribly wrong. a rescue from dangerously cold weather. look at that!

martha: there are chilling new audio recordings in the trial of a man accused of kill ago family in their connecticut home, he is the second suspect being tried in this case but it's the first time we have heard anything like this coming out from the evidence here. laura ingle joins us live from our new york newsroom, laura, what does he say on this tape? >> in joshua komarsejesky's

investigation, he takes the investigation one item at a time, he describes how he and his convicted accomplice, stephen hayes, on the right, who has been convicted of the crimes, tied up the entire pettitte family, how he, joshua komarsijesky, sexually assaulted kayla and said he and hayes argued in the pettitte house about killing them. we've never heard these audiotapes at this trial. they were revealed last week to jurors and we've got our hand on them into the newsroom last night, he told police he wanted no part of killing the family. listen: >> he's like well, then, you know, i'll kill the two daughters and you can kill the mom. i was like we're not killing anyone. i was like i don't know how to put it more matter of fact. >> komisarjevsky said it was hayes that soaked the house with gasoline and as they left he saw him light a

match and flick it at the house. >> i could see the puddle of gasoline sitting on the tile floor in the kitchen and the entire kitchen just erupts. then like a sea of flame. >> just one match lit? >> yeah, the third one that he tried. >> just one match that caused all that damage, komisarjevsky said he closed the bedroom doors to buy them time but didn't think to untie them. martha: that is just horrific, that whole tale. what do we expect to hear in court? >> we have a state detective, she will tell jurors about the evidence collected at the scene, just before she took the stand yesterday. the former medical examiner who performed the autopsy on dollars oldest pettitte daughter hay lee told jurors she died of sphoepl inhalation. we have more coming throughout the day and will bring you the latest when we get it. bill: what an awful story to relive, for all of us. there is brand new

information on the operation fast & furious scandal, how you as taxpayers were used in a sting gone wrong. that is a live look at the washington monument. they're about to repel down the side of it and check the damage from the earthquake in august. martha: you don't see that every day. bill: you do not. stay right there. app grapgic: yeah dawg! man 2: allow me to crack...the bubbly! man 1: don't mind if i doozy. man 3: is a gentleman with a brostache invited over to this party? man 1: only if he's ready to rock! ♪ sfx: guitar and trumpet jam vo: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. ♪ [ male announcer ] what is the future of fuel? the debate is over. ♪

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[ 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. martha: well big story this morning. your money, used to purchase weapons for a botched federal gun running sting. -- fox news show that there is new evidence that the federal government used tax dollars to buy some of the guns for the fast and furious operation and resold those high-powered firearms to mexico's ruthless drug cartels that is brand new hour of starting "america's newsroom." glad to have you

this morning on tuesday. i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer. are you all right. martha: i'm fine. bill: story gets deeper and deeper. border agent brian terry was gunned down in mexico. martha: now local governments, law enforcement and civilians especially in border states like arizona are fuming at the feds for arming some of the world's most dangerous criminals. >> lo and behold, we now found out our own government has been facilitating and with the straw purchases of weapons, being placed into the hands of the most violent criminals in north america, mexican drug cartels. that is outrageous. martha: outrageous he says. william la jeunesse joins us live in los angeles. good morning, william. >> reporter: well, martha many would say it is bad enough to knowingly help sell guns to criminals or to knowingly to allow them to go across the border but the new documents shows the administration goes a step further, using tax money to

buy guns, sell them to a known trafficker at a profit and then look the other way as they fuel violence in mexico. >> the purchase was being done by a criminal organization. >> reporter: so far federal officials claim operation fast and furious only allowed guns to be sold to criminals. however new records show atf actually bought weapons using taxpayer money, sold them to cartel buyers and watched as the guns disappeared into mexico. >> made no sense to us either. it was what we wered do to do. >> reporter: considered according to the atf letter they gave the agent $250 in petty cash to buy two handguns from the lone wolf trading company in phoenix. he received another 1700 to by four more at a second store. he instructed dodson to sell the guns but instead of moving in and busting the buyer, the atf watched him drive away. sources say mexican police have never recovered the guns. after dodson went public

another supervisor tried to discredit him disclosing he sold guns to the cartels. >> remember you guns you gave them? that was dodson. >> oh i know. >> he purchased firearms as a straw purchaser and gave them to the bad guy. >> reporter: 60 street irregularses, the examiner and were among the first to report the scandal allowing current atf agent to go public without revealing their identities. >> it is a testament to the power of the internet and the ability to network. >> reporter: now this case involved the same agents, the same store, the same methods but a different defendant than the 20 i7b dieted in the fast and furious indictment. agent dodson claims he opposed operation for a start and watched that drop house for nearly a week when finally a car showed up to take the guns to mexico he called in for backup and it was refused according to dodson and those guns disappeared south.

martha: there they went. william, thank you very much. operation fast and furious may have been shut down but the fallout as you can see really isn't ending. the atf still can not account for 74% of the weapons now gone, sold into the hands of drug lords and their cohorts. those weapons have been linked to at least two violent crimes here in the united states now. bill: including the murder of border agent brian terry. at least 30 guns have been linked to violent crime scenes across the border in mexico where the body count as you know continues to grow higher and higher. bill: fox news alert on something you don't see every day. right now crews are set to repel down the washington monument that is what that is right there, checking for any exterior damage caused by that strong quake back in late august. meanwhile we're getting a closer look at some dramatic new video from the quake inside the monument. security footage showing that the startled tourists scrambling as the 500 foot

high observation deck shook violently. we'll keep the screen up for you on the left as they do their work. kelly wright is there live. kelly, good morning to you. what about the new video first of all? what are they doing? >> reporter: this new video we're looking at right now, fresh and live, right now is a man on top of the obilisk, the washington monument some 555 feet in the air. he is at the very top if you will. he is putting around some sort of titanium fastening. he came out of some sort of door at the very top. you see him standing there. he has to fasten that around so other repellers i'm told can get out, latch onto that and actually begin to repel down the 555 feet of the washington monument. engineers will be able to get a first-hand look for cracks and chinks in the edifice itself. this is a historic landmark

as you know that on august 23rd was part of that, hit by that east coast 5.8-magnitude earthquake and what happened at that time, we received new video from the national parks service. we can show that to you now, what was going on inside because there were people at the top, about 50 feet below where that man is now standing. you can see the violent shaking going on as that earthquake hit. and the quick reaction of composed park rangers, helped all of them get out safely with no injury, no harm. but to be honest when it first hit they didn't know what was going on. >> it was only about two or three minutes. it was when i was in the stairwell descending and a park police officer came across my radio and notified us it was an earthquake and not an attack. >> the better news, none of our visitors were hurt during the earthquake. i would like to take this opportunity to commend the park rangers and the united

states park police who managed to safely evacuate the monument during the quake. >> reporter: so while the shaking from that tremor frightened everyone the park rangers kept their composure helping everyone get to safety. took about 10 minutes in all for all of the tourists to make it down the steps. the washington monument remains closed indefinitely, bill but the parks service reports the historic landmark is structurally sound and not going anywhere at all. as we're live looking at the gentleman at the top i would like my cameraman give a perspective how high up he is. tilt down somewhat not to me but to the actual washington monument to see how far above the ground he is. yeah, i heard that. who is right. i'm standing at the base. i'm not on the monument ground. i'm looking at them. the monument is indefinitely closed right now. but you can see just how high he is and how important of a job this is. by the way, we were told yesterday by the national

parks service that this is not the only earthquake to have hit this area. the monument withstood an earthquake back in the 1800s sometime shortly after construction was completed in 1884. bill: kelly, do they have reason to believe there is more damage? is there something they have gotten ahold of or a picture of some sort? >> reporter: they have pictures from within where there has been some damage. they can tell some rocks have fallen. some of the stone there has fallen from within. they know there's possibly some damage outside. they have to get a good idea of what it is that they have to do to make sure that they can repair that damage. again, the national parks service, says it is structurally sound. and that is a testament to the builders of this washington monument. bill: they must have concern though in the following way because you can't put a ladder up there, right? damage --.

>> reporter: can't put a ladder up there. bill: damage possibly to this monument could be so high that this is the only way to access it but as far as we know this is the first time they have gone down this way, repelling. >> reporter: short of trying something off the wall, have a helicopter fly over and someone repel down from that, and engineers will be up there repelling and looking over every inch of that to see what has to be repaired and to assess the damage. the only way they can do it, bill to put eyes on it. only way to do that is go up to the top and repel down, looking at every square inch of that landmark. bill: that is a heck of a shot, kelly. it really is. the picture of the day. martha: i'm so glad he volunteered to do it, that guy. bill: we will keep an eye on it, okay. when he starts going down we'll get back to you. >> reporter: going down safely, bill. bill: safely. thank you, kelly. some background and great information from kelly. built in two faces from lack

of funding because of political trouble, i did not know that. completed in 1884. attributed to george washington military leadership during the american revolution. there are 193 memorial stones. they will check out whether or not there is more damage there. martha: good that man volunteered to do it. i was going to go up if he didn't. since he said he was available. can you imagine. bill: first time we took the picture we were looking up at the base up 500 feet. we found out this guy is on the very tip. martha: see if you see the optical illusion. i thought thought it was from the ground. as it went up it disappeared you're so close to it that is not the case. that is the tip of it which is very interesting. breathe a big sigh of relief. there is no government shutdown at least for now and maybe until mid-november. the house passed a bare bones spending bill. not the kind that they're u.s. to that would keep the government up and running next few weeks. a congressman on the near shutdown really tells us

about the way things are going to go in washington. bill: also their time in the white house more than 150 years apart but are there similarities between the presidency of barack obama and abraham lincoln? bill o'reilly is without a new book, his own book. he is here live to talk about it coming up. martha: gone fishing, bill and nearly gone for good. wait until you see this. a leisurely day that ended with a rescue effort and a trip to the hospital. >> we're on the boat right now. our friend just got bit by a shark. >> your friend was bitten by a shark? >> a shark, yes. in his upper, i believe his upper left thigh.

bill: some quick thinking firefighters saving the day. two fishermen trapped on a local peer by these massive waves. one of the men suddenly knocked into the water by a crashing swell. the men say they're glad someone found them at all. >> we did the best we could

to stay calm and warm. till someone finally rescued us. >> rag dolled me into the other harbor. my mask was this way. >> everyone was there helping. i appreciate all that. i'm glad me and my friend are okay. bill: that is chilly water in the state of wisconsin any time of year. both fishermen expected to be a-okay. martha: well the u.s. government will stay up and running, folks. you can breathe a big sigh of relief at least for now for a little while. in the end the senators passed a last minute deal that funds the government through the middle of november. the house is expected to follow suit on this deal. so the battle over disaster aid, what was holding up the bill and senate democrats say they hope the stalling on whole thing to be complete is over. watch this. >> it is hard to see how the house republicans could reject this proposal given the overwhelming vote it received in the senate, receiving a majority of both parties, which doesn't

happen on major bills that often these days. martha: well that's for sure, right, it sure doesn't. joined by republican congressman, bill lie zynga. he is on the financial services and does not support the latest deal. welcome. good to have you here today. >> thank you, martha i appreciate the opportunity. martha: people are tired of worried about deadlines and oh actually it turned out we could have funded fema for another week or some we could have had more time to figure this out. what is going on? >> my point exactly. as we've been going through this. this was avoidable. it was unnecessary but it is the senate. it is like drama is us is their name. i tell you, really is frustrating when you're sitting on the other side, we know once again no tough decisions were made. martha: we know that fema disaster aid was trim ad bit and spending was also trim ad bit and that is how both sides got together on this deal.

>> yeah. martha: should we take away from that it is possible that both sides can make compromises, that you can figure out a way to pay for disaster aid by cutting into spending? >> there is a lot of people say this is new ground. for the first time ever we have actually set a precedent here of taking some money out of other places in the budget to pay for these things. i have. i equate it if the car breaks down and it is at the shop and get your transmission worked on will you still go out to eat this weekend or go to the movies or those kinds of things or will you reprioritize? that is what is really is about. martha: is that truly what happened here and if it is why aren't you happy with the deal? >> this is better, frankly. the senate lowered that fema funding by a billion dollars. they chose to keep money in there for solyndra and some of the other things. but it is going to lower it a billion dollars. it is not about taking care of earthquake victims or flood victims. it, because we want to do that. i want to do that. we've seen those things here

in michigan. we've seen it around the country, but it is about prioritizing and making sure we're not spending more than what we're taking in and it is progress. martha: i hear you. you said funding for solyndra or green jobs or company for solyndra itself which is now in bankruptcy? >> problems like. martha: problems like that. >> like solyndra had. and everybody is tired of hearing about the $16 muffins out of the department of justice. you know, for their, for their conferences and those kinds of things. and the bottom line is, martha, it is about responsibility and transparency and accountability for this government. and it simply isn't there. martha: what kind of concessions in spending were made? >> well, for what we were doing in the house? martha: yes. >> okay. well, first of all we looked at the program and first and foremost i don't think it was enough. it was a partial paid-for, not a full paid-for. one of the areas they were taking that money out of was

a program that many argue benefited the detroit three, having to do with advanced vehicle manufacturing. and, we know that gm, ford and chrysler all were neutral on that bill, despite what our friends in the senate were saying because they had act he is is the program. it had been okay but it hadn't been the home run that they had thought about. but that was one area where we were going to take a billion and a half dollars. martha: let's hope we don't revisit this in the middle of november and get somewhere before then. congressman, thank you very much for being with us today. >> i appreciate it, martha. thank you. bill: we're about 19 minutes past the hour now. what does america need to learn from history? specifically what do we need to learn from abraham lincoln? who else but bill o'reilly to join us live about his new book about honest abe. he will tell us. martha: a new political ad from rick perry that paints mitt romney, a flip-flopper. a member of perry's campaign explains the latest mud to

fly for the battle for 2012. >> secretary duncan has done some good things. he for instance has a program called race to the top. >> there is one person on this stage that is for obama's race to the top. that is governor romney. he said so this last week. >> i'm not sure exactly what he is saying.

martha: medal of honor resipient sergeant dakota meyer says he doesn't want any special treatment. he had hoped to become one of new york city's bravest. but he missed the deadline to take the firefighter exam by just a few hours. he was a little busy as you can see in washington at the white house with the president when he received his medal of honor. but a judge stepped in and gave him the chance to apply late. but that same judge rejected a request for other late entries. the lawyer for sergeant meyer says he doesn't feel

right about being only given special consideration. meyer reportedly declined that opportunity. we'll follow up on the story and -- brotherhood with one of those bravest firefighters in new york. we'll see what happens. bill: meantime the trial of michael jackson's doctor starts this morning. dr. conrad murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter. adam housley live in l.a. on this. adam, good morning to you. lay out the case there in l.a.. >> reporter: bill, this all begins in about an hour and 20 minutes from now when dr. murray will face the jury and face the family of michael jackson inside the courtroom. a lot of questions are outlined here. will dr. murray actually testify? we're told by defense sources only testify in the case if it looks like he needs to testify. at the same time the kids of michael jackson might testify for the prosecution that is it one report out there. we're also hearing that they will not testify for the prosecution. so as you might imagine, at this hour, a lot of questions are opening who will step in front of that jury, who is going to testify in this case against

dr. murray and whether or not he administer prepare foe follow incorrectly and just resulting in the death of michael jackson. bill: another scene for big-time-trial that will get international trial in los angeles what is the evidence against dr. murray. >> reporter: i will show you. craziness. people from the netherlands and russia, all over. we saw the same type of scene back during the jackson trial in santa maria. real evidence they have according to a number of different reports they will say dr. murray administered the propofol. that is the argument at least. there was propofol found in the room. there was different types of medication, that necessarily, prosecution claims didn't need to be there. there was argument that when the first-responders came that the doctor didn't say anything to them about propofol being administered. when he went to the hospital he didn't tell doctors that

proowe follow was ad -- propofol was administered as well. the defense says there is no such truth to that. that will where it plays out. so many different stories coming out. there are two sides to every story. everyone is real interested to see how it will play out this courtroom. one more note to get it back to you. the defense attorney for dr. murray is known for being expert knowing all about medical malpractice. bill: cameras in the courtroom, yes or no, adam? >> reporter: absolutely cameras in the courtroom. you see the jackson family walk through the front door behind me. dr. murray goes through in an underground parking lot. quite a scene out here today, bill, at least for sure. bill: thank you, adam housley watching that. day one starts today in los angeles. martha: well, bill, she is the star of a very popular tv show and she is steaming mad today. she got kicked off of a plane for kissing. the rest of that tale is coming up. bill: i hope there is another part of that tale, right. martha: there is. bill: campaign watchers saying rick perry is faltering, giving

mitt romney a big opening. in only three minutes we'll talk to a senior member of rick perry's campaign.

bill: a little bit of political mud flying this morning. a brand-new web video from rick perry's campaign called romney's race to the flop, slamming mitt romney as a serial flip-flopper. watch this real quick. >> i think secretary duncan has

done good things. he's the current secretary of education. he has a program called race to the top, which encourages schools to have more choice, more testing of kids, more evaluation of teachers. those are things that make some sense. >> there is one person on this stage that is for obama's race to the top, and that is governor romney e. said so just this last week, being in favor of the obama race to the top and that is not conservative. >> did governor perry say something that wasn't true? >> i'm not sure exactly what he's saying, i don't support any particular program that he's describing. bill: race to the top which encourages schools to have more choice, more testing of kids, more evaluation of teachers, those i think make some sense. bill: ray sullivan is a communication direct *erb for the rick perry campaign. i was watching you as you were playing this. you had a smile on your face. i know you like this ad, it hits at the heart of mitt romney, what is the issue here, sir.

>> governor rom me has a long history of being on all sides of all issues. this is most recent example. he praised obama's education secretary the day before the debate and supported race to the top which is a national standards, curriculum program the obama administration has been pushing. 24 hours later he comes out and says, i don't know where that came from, i don't support that program. bill: he says you did not finish his sentence. he went onto say, for me, come a get that back to the state level. did you misrepresent mitt romney's statement? >> i think if you look at mr. romney's words at the rally in florida, praising president obama's education secretary, praising race to the top, praising those federal standards and curriculum i don't know how we can say it any clearer than what mr. romney said. he changed his position 24 hours later, part of a pattern we've seen throughout his political career. bill: on screen for our viewers

they say this is just another tall tale from governor perry instead of spending time misrepresenting governor rom no's words governor ferry should take some time why he thinks conservatives who disagree with him for providing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants don't have a heart. does governor perry still have that position about illegal immigrants and tuition breaks in his state? >> here in texas, i don't know that there's been any governor, any leader in the country who has been so articulate and forceful on the issue of border security. the federal government has been a failure. we've had to deal with that in this state. governor perry has put 400 million state dollars, sending the texas rangers there. we've had legislation to crackdown and outlaw driver's licenses for illegals. the governor's record on

securing the border is really better than anyone. bill: the issue wasn't the border, the issue was education breaks. does he stand by those. >> the state of texas hay decided that anyone, any child in texas who has been here for three years, has graduate fred a texas high school, who is a texas resident pays in-state tuition. that is a law the legislature passed. it only had four opposing votes. we believe and texans believe that that is an education policy that is consistent, that treats everyone the same, everyone pays, if you're a texas resident, pays the same amount and that's the law of the land here. bill: i take it the answer is a yes and we'll see how that works its way through this primary season. now herman cain yesterday said that governor perry with us not up to pri-time in our fox google debate last thursday. herman cain is also a guy who won the florida straw poll, and easy winner in that poll with your man, rick perry finishing well back in second-place. what did you think about that

distant second finish, knowing that you've been in this race a little more than a month, but there was a lot of attention that your campaign put into getting a better outcome. what does that 15 or 16% say to you? >> mr. cain gave a great speech and we congratulated him. this is a marathon, as you pointed out the governor has been in the race about six weeks. he has a strong record, has never lost an election, has created more jobs in this state than anyone in the country, 40% of the new jobs in june of 09 are texas jobs. we are in this for the long haul. the governor is moving across the country. he will be back in new hampshire later this week. we are optimistic and working hard to take that message, that projob message to the voters. bill: what do you say to herman cain who says your guy is not ready for prime-time. >> we congratulate mr. cain and see him on the campaign trail and see who ends up at the top at the end of the day stphaot story is similar to something i

think americans heard seven years ago when a texas governor called a massachusetts senator a flip-flopper. you're going back to 2004? >> there must be something in the water in massachusetts. yesterday it was race to the top, flip-flop. the day before he was editing his book to remove a reference that romney care is a good national model. and of course as even governor romney's economic adviser says that romney care was the precursor, was the blueprint for obamacare. so this is a part of a pattern, and certainly going to be part of the public debate. bill: your camp has fired one of the first shots and we are going to get and answer from the other side coming up real soon. for now, ray sullivan thanks you very much for joining us from austin and our offer stands any time if the governor wants to appear. >> thank you. bill: the romney camp responds to all of this back and forth.

a senior campaign adviser for mitt romney sits down with jon scott coming up. martha: we look forward to that. michelle bachmann says that don't settle is her new motto for 2012, she was rallying a group of supporters in iowa, and she is urging them not to vote for what she calls a mainstream candidate. >> we can't settle on a candidate, because every four years conservatives are told that we have to just stand next to the wall, sit in the back of the room, and we have to get around a candidate that we're told is electable, right? we're told the conservative is the candidate who is not electable. we're told only the moderate candidate in the race is the one that is electable. but that isn't true. martha: all right. so that's michelle bachmann. her poll numbers as you know have fallen since the iowa straw poll win. but she says her experience makes her ooh tphoebg lee suited for the job of president.

we'll see how that message works for her. bill: a key endorsement for ron paul. senator michael dot tee backing paul. >> the debt is too big, the deficit is growing, the spending doesn't quit. they talk about cutting spending, they are not talking about that. do you believe them when they say they are going to cut somebody. bill: he currently ranks third in national polls on the republican side. we want to know from you today, our question of the day, what is the most important issue for you in the battle for 2012. right more noun 70% online say the economy. you can still go online, vote, you seat categories right there and tell us what you think at "america's newsroom." martha: all right. for this story we mentioned a moment ago, former l word star leisha hailey now accusing southwest airlines of discrimination. the actress says she and her girlfriend were escorted off of

a flight for kissing each other. southwest airlines posted a response on their website. they said this had nothing to do with gender. quote, passengers were characterizing their behavior as excessive. so, you know, you can kiss who you want to kiss, bill. bill: got you. martha: but you can't be excessive. if this is a straight couple and they are making out in the plane in front of their family. bill: too much pda i think they called that. martha: they didn't like it, they got very upset and they left. bill: you say, hey guys, come on. martha: a little bit of explaining to do. bill: remember this? >> i stand before you today to announce my candidacy for president of the united states of america. [cheering] bill: remember that day? president obama forever changing america when he became our first black president.

that was the day he launched his campaign. does he have similarities with abraham lincoln? bill o'reilly and his new book about america's 16th president is only three minutes away. listen to this. three out of four americans don't get enough vegetables. so here's five bucks to help you buy v8 juice. five bucks. that's a lot of green. go to v8juice.com for coupons. you can count on us. 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,

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that wasn't the agreement. [ male announcer ] join the members of aarp and tell washington to stop cuts to our medicare and social security benefits. bill: they went for a peaceful fishing trip and it took a turn for the worse. a 22-year-old man in florida attacked by a shark, he was spear fishing with friends. here is the 911 call. >> we're on the boat right now. our friend got bitten by a shark. he is alert. he wants water. >> your friend was bit even by a shark. >> a shark, yes. on his upper left side. >> he started screaming, and a big swell went away. and he just started screaming. >> without even thinking, he jumped right in, he swam over to cj. cj grabbed onto him.

and the boys lifted him into the boat. >> when the boys lifted him into the boat there was a huge gaping wound that flopped over and blood was spiriting everywhere. bill: the man expected to be okay, though. martha: in these times our nation needs to know more about president abraham lincoln. bill o'reilly is out with a new book called killing lincoln, the shocking assassination that changed america forever. he joins us live, mr. o'reilly in the house in "america's newsroom." >> reporter: i think hammer did that on purpose, the shark story, then leading into me. martha: first of all it's a really good read, bill, it's very different from all your other books and it's a piece of history and told in a really narrative and engaging way. i'm about halfway through it. i'm really enjoying it. i want my daughter to read it. it's a great book and an important time in history and an important man.

>> reporter: you have to con theto contemporise it. very rarely in history do we discuss these thins. we need leadership in our country, now. the country is divided. we are divided between ideologies. it is not as innocence in the mid 19th century. we need a strong leader. i want americans to know what the goal standard for a president would be. that wobbling on in my opinion, the best american president ever. we need somebody like that now to solve the complicated problems america has. we are on the decline and we need a leader to get us backed up. martha: he's the most beloved president as you say. >> reporter: hated back then, though. martha: it's so compelling, bill because he knew he had a very strong sense he was going to be killed. >> reporter: i don't want to tell dash tkaeurb want people to read the book, we have a scene in the book that is just eerie

where link on has a dream, a vivid dream of what is going to happen to him, and he tells his wife and some other visitors to the white house, and they all panic, but link on knew he was going to be assassinated. he told his body guards it was going to happen. the question is why didn't he up his security, because he didn't. we have all that in the book. i wanted to write it like a john gresham thriller. very few people read history books these days. people need to know when they vote for a president in 2012 they need to know what the gold standard of leadership is for this country, and it is abraham lincoln. martha: one much the things i question though when you read this and think about the way things were then. you talk about him walking from the war department back to the capitol and the president could just walk around washington. >> reporter: and did. martha: and did and had maybe one bodyguard with him once in a while. the people walking up to him on the lawn when he was talking to grant having a casual conversation.

can you lead that way now? what has changed in the ability to be that sort of leader in today's world. >> reporter: andrew jackson had been attacked before link on but people would actually go into the white house and room around. it was -- link on would come down and 16 people he never even knew would be there. it was the people's house. they didn't ban people. there wasn't secret service or any of that. secret service came after the civil war, after the assassination. today the leadership has to come through the media and in a way that puts the country above the leader, and that's what we don't have. unfortunately both parties are now dominated by people who put themselves above the country. and this mess that we are in economically is going to require great sacrifices from not only our leaders, but every one of us. link on sacrificed his whole life. he was a robust over six foot guy, good posture.

four years later he's hunched over, he's aged 25 years. what the man sacrificed for his country was unbelievable. we don't see that sacrifice out there. we've lost it. martha: everybody is worried about the next election. it's a whole different world, you have the media, everybody, all of us, you, looking at every move that everyone makes and you can't do what he did. >> reporter: when i interviewed president obama on the super bowl after the interview he got wind that i was writing this book and he goes, you know, i'm a big link on guy too. i said i know, you referred to him as you showed the clip. and he said have you ever been inhe lincoln bedroom upstairs. i said no i thought only barbara streisand could go. a little presidential humor. he took me up to the link on bed rom and showed me the gettiesburg address. instead of channel blance lincoln on and trying to solve problems he continues to do the ideological thing.

just today he says i want to make the american economy work for all people. it's impossible. you can't make the person economy work for all people. it's capitalism. some people prosper and some people don't. and if you try to make it work for all people you're going to screw it up. that's like saying, i want to make slavery work for all people. you can't make it work. some people wanted it and some people don't. you have to go into what is right for the country, which at that point was to get rid of this insidious slavery. right now its getting back to free marketplace, wit but the president can't bring himself to do it. that's why i'm screaming -- i don't know if the republicans have anything. martha: i was going to ask you is there anybody out there you think is a leader. >> reporter: i don't know. they said rick perry was booed at a debate. so what. i think americans have to watch with an open mind.

president obama might pivot like bill clinton did, if not he'll lose. martha: once they've won look at president bush after september 11th then you see the metal of the person. >> reporter: there is and overarch today that leadership isn't selfsacrifice, and it is, it is, you have to suffer to be a great leader. everyone has. martha: and certainly abraham lincoln did. the book is called killing lincoln. it's a really great read. bill, thank you so much for sharing with us. >> reporter: martha thank you. martha: i hope there are quiz questions in this book. >> reporter: you know i'm not shy about promoting. bill: quiz ever day getting ready for thursday. that's why she's doing so well. looking forward to the next book. it's going to be a great one. bill: jon scott and jenna lee are coming up next ten minutes away. jenna: have you heard about this organization called no labels? they say by next year they will

be a force to be reckoned with like the tea party. we'll talk to the founder coming up. one of the biggest treasures ever discovered found throw miles unthe oegts. the pictures and the story for you, plus treating depression with caffeine. it might work, bill. we'll talk a little bit more about that. bill: with our hours it would. thank you, jenna see you in nine minutes okay. this guy is sitting there like a frog on top of the washington monument. he hasn't moved in an hour. at the very tip 500 feet off the earth. he's going rebel pell down the side of the monument and check out for more cracks potentially after the earthquake in late august. we are going to watch him do it, so don't move, like that guy. back in a moment.

bill: i want jobs? developers in charleston, south carolina say they can do that

with money for a newport for all the tourists who come by on the big cruise ships. there is a catch, though, not everybody wants it. jonathan serrie is live with more on this. what is the rub there, jonathan. >> reporter: hey, bill, well charleston is an elegant town, a centuries old town. it's a port city. what folks are finding is balancing historic preservation with progress can sometimes lead to conflict. charleston, south carolina, draws tourists from around the world, but how those visitors get here is making waves in the community. >> i have nothing against cruising. i've been on a number of cruises. they are a great thing. charleston is a small city and it need to be kept in balance. >> reporter: just steps from the historic district is this 65-acre cargo terminal. the states port authority wants to redevelop the land. >> the cruise business is an extraordinary positive force for the local economy. at a time when most places are

shedding jobs we are adding jobs through the cruise building. >> reporter: by converting this old warehouse into a state of the art cruise terminal they hope to bring their tourist industry into the 21st seven taou century. some hess dents fea residents fear it will send away tourists. they want to move the cruise terminal to about a mile and a half north of the current site but port officials say they don't want to disrupt interest dust traoeindustrial operations. bill: great town. we'll see how it turns out. martha: new jersey governor chris christie is taxing the tax credits for the jersey shore gang. it is over, folks. ♪ [music playing]

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>> ♪ >> ♪ >> bill: they had an on eight track in the '80s, dropping the financial hammer on the jersey shore, vetoing a tax credit for the mtv show, chris christie says i am duty-bound to ensure that taxpayers are not footing the $24,000 bill for a project which does nothing more than perpetuate mionceptions about the state and its citizens. martha: thank you! bill: he blocked the tax credit for law and ord, so you're welcome. jersey shore is not. martha: bye bye snookie. most from new york, anyway. see you tomorrow. not far from the jersey shore, we're going to take to you lower manhattan. take a look at the stock