bill: we are going to start with what a homecoming this was for the american amanda knox. 24 years old and now a free woman. she is back in seattle and will wake up in her hometown for the first time in four years. she was so overwhelmed by the moment she could barely finish her statement. >> they are reminding me to speak in english because i'm having problems with that. i'm really overwhelmed right now. i was looking down from the airplane and it seemed like everything wasn't real. what's important for me to say is thank you to everyone who

believed in me. who defended me. who supported my family. i just want my family is the most important thing to me right now. and i just want to go be with them. so thank you for being there for me. [cheers and applause] bill: what a moment that was. good morning, i'm bill hemmer, welcome to america's newsroom. martha: what a moment is right, for this 24-year-old and her family and all the people who supported her throughout her ordeal. 24 hours ago her fate was up in the air. an italian appeals court overturning her conviction. dan springer is live in seattle. >> reporter: that statement you played from amanda knox was

the entire thing. she took no questions. her parents were there. they spoke briefly. a lawyer spoke. it was all very bev, then she was -- it was all very brief, then she was wisked away. yesterday there was a bit of a shell game as she was leaving the airport. there were helicopters from all the local stayings over the airport and the family left the airport in five different limos. some to the dad's house, some to the mom's house, some to the grandmother's house. we don't know where she ended up spending the night but there were welcome home signs at the parents' houses. the people of seattle were happy to have her back. the media did get a chance to

talk to the grandmother. she spoke to reporters yesterday. >> we are all happy as can be. i can't tell you how much we were looking forward to that day. it played on us for four years and we dealt with it as good as we could, and now we are on it and we'll hope to get back to normal. >> reporter: getting back to normal the tough part in the short term. an example of the family's sacrifice. that grandmother took a $250,000 second mortgage on her house. she turned 75 this month. she says having amanda home is her birthday present. martha: let's turn our attention to the economy. we got a dismal report on the state of jobs in this economy. this is the number. it says layoffs are up 212% over

this period last year. that is the biggest jump they have reported in three years. let's bring in stuart varney. that's not a pretty number. >> reporter: this is just one side of the ledger. this is the firing side, the layoff side. 115,000 people laid off in the month of september. that's the highest monthly number since april of 2009. it would tend to confirm the statement from ben bernanke where he said there are clear signs the recovery may be fatterring. early -- may be -- may befallerring. it is below the average of 140,000 people hired in each and every month for the first 8

months of this year. so it confirms the trend is down. that the recovery is indeed faltering. we are not in a recession but it sure feels like it. martha: we have seen 0 bad implication -- we have seen some bad indication from wall street as well. august us ugly. what does it look like we'll see in october? >> reporter: some analysts say 50,000 jobs created net-net. but that of course will change when we get the jobless benefit number tomorrow at 8:30 eastern. it can go all over the place. but nobody is looking for 200,000 new jobs created in the month. martha: we thank you for that report. bill: we have new information

after a deadly crash in new york city. a helicopter spinning out of control going down in a murky fast-moving water and sinking fast on the east river. five speech -- five people onboard including a couple celebrating their daughter's 40th birthday. they were screaming for help. >> they were screaming for help. there are three people in here. we need to get them out. four people survived, tragically the woman celebrating her birthday is dead. how did that happen? >> reporter: i was at the scene a few minutes after the helicopter went down. there were at least 7 launches in the water. there were three police helicopters, there were divers on the scene, all this within a matter of minutes. one of those divers was racing

to the water so quickly that as he was running he was trying to zip up his wetsuit. as you mention now. four lives were saved. the survivors, the pilot, an older couple living in portugal, but their daughter, sonia nicholson was among the dead. her partner was saved. this was not an easy rescue. the waters of the east river very swift as the rescuers arrived they did see two men cling together skids of the helicopter. one woman was floating unconscious in the water. here is a first-hand account from one of the rescuers. >> we were able to grab onto the first gentleman who was alive. i was able to get my arms underneath. and we were trying to pull him out of the water. we were able to get him by the belt. we were able to muscle him out

of the water onto the tarmac where we started work on him. >> reporter: all those onboard the helicopter were friends of the pilot. they were doing sight-seeing in new york. this was not an official sightseeing helicopter. those have to have location devices for passengers. it's not clear if those vests were onboard this helicopter. bill: what is remarkable is they pulled the helicopter out of the water. >> reporter: the helicopter was pulled out of the water. it's still not clear what the cause was of this crash. we are told the pilot was very experienced. in 2006 he had to make an emergency lands can of a single engine aircraft. he said panic doesn't get you anywhere. he called his attorney after the crash and he told his lawyer apparently there was a mechanical failure. mayor michael bloomberg said he has no idea whether this was

caused by mechanical error or pilot error. they talked with the pilot but it's too early in the process to see what went wrong. here is some of what he had to say. >> it's early in the investigation. so our folks on the ground are trying to make sure we get things that could disappear if we don't collect it now. >> reporter: a new york congresswoman is asking the faa to restrict or began non-essential helicopter flights that originate in manhattan. since 1995 there have been 7 crashes in the hudson or east river. bill: more when we get it here. there will be developments on that. the pilot has a lot of information onboard, too. martha: coming up, we'll talk to the man who watched this whole thing happen. he saw the chopper take off. he was sitting there with his child in a stroller.

he was the first one to get on the phone and call 911. here is a little bit of what he witnessed. >> this helicopter, when it took off it made the normal peeloff move. but it started spinning around and obviously it was in trouble. and it peeled over and it went over. the propellers went right in. martha: he will be with us moments from now. the first responder who he is calling the real hero in this story. all that coming up straight ahead. bill: the pilot had a lot of experience and he was related to these people -- not related but they were friends and knew each other very well. mitt romney sitting on top of the polls until now. guess who is tied with romney for the top slot. martha: did attorney general eric holder per p -- perjure

himself when he testified on the botched sting. >> although there are operations this one has gotten a great deal of publicity. there are other dead americans as a result of this failed and reckless program so i would say it hassen gotten enough attention, has it, mr. attorney general. [ male announcer ] in blind taste tests, even ragu uss chose prego. prego?! but i've been buying ragu for years. [ thinking ] i wonder what other questionable choices i've made? [ '80s dance music plays ] [ sighs ] [ male announcer ] choose taste. choose prego.

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and help pay for what medicare doesn't. call this toll-free number now... martha: there are new evacuations in texas as wildfires have sparked up there again. at least 50 families have been forced out of their homes in the same place where the most destructive fire in can history destroyed 1,500 homes. bill: there is new fallout in

the solyndra scandal. republican lawmaker are wondering how many companies may be out there getting your tax dollars. >> you have to investigate all the way to the end of it. i have a feeling there are other solyndras that may surface. bill: here is pair it of that ad. >> there were warning. there were red flags. >> hindsight is always 20-20. it went through the regular review process. >> the white house put pressure on the energy department to approve this loan. >> solyndra runs out of cash. the company and the white house kept it secret. >> do you regret that? >> no, i don't. bill: godr good morning to you.

where was this going? why is there a drip, drip, drip every day? >> we want to understand what these other companies are. this is a program where the government was handing out money to companies we don't know anything about. i fought to get rid of congressional earmarks. we have people in the white house picking winners and losers. it begs the question how did they come to those conclusions. bill: have you drawn conclusions? >> it's not being well. every time the government make a designificant to spend money they are pulling that money out of somebody else's pocket and giving it to somebody else. the president calls it a good bet. you are not suppose to be betting with the people's money. bill: and he said failures are expected. is this when you are dealing with new technology?

>> the government should not be picking winners and losers. we talk about investing in green energy and jobs. the government has to be careful in creating an even flying field. what begs the question, and i think cliff stern and the energy committee is doing a good job delving into this. despite the warnings why did the white house move forward. and my role is to make sure this isn't happening in other situations. bill: do you want to hear from the department of energy? the washington times caught up with him yesterday. we have a short clip between the reporter from the newspaper and the secretary. >> reporter: virtually every country in western europe, japan, and china are feeling as though these are three key strategic technologies and they say we have to invest and help

these industries because these are the industries that the world will need and we want to be in that place. bill: there were two points he was making in that segment. these companies overseas like china are pouring trillions of government money into an industry that could produce trillions of dollars in jobs and benefits for that country. so we need to get onboard that. the other point he makes is it's easy for folk like you in hindsight to say this was a stupid move. what do you say to the secretary. >> it was a stupid move and the point is not to make the same stupid move again and again. them have billions of dollars set aside into vest in these times of companies. i find that that's wrong. we have a responsibility to make sure we are good stewards of the people's money and the government isn't done this with what look to be purely political

moves. bill: so lynn padres one. -- solyndra is one. how many do you think are out there? >> i don't know. that's why the congress will continue to delve into it. it's billions of dollars. martha: there are surprising new poll numbers that show mitt romney is getting crowd at the top of the field. the candidate tying romney for his front runner status. we want to know what you think about this. you can weigh in on who you think is leading the pack. it looks like anybody's game. martha: massive demonstrations. and this was not on wall street. what they are up to. male announcer ] you're gonna build a fuel-efficient car, the first thing you got to do

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bill: police searching for a missing 10-month-old girl. police say she disappeared from her crib in the middle of the night. the government confirms three more deaths in the listeria outbreak linked to cantaloupes. both sides walk away from the negotiationings table. if a dice not reached by monday regular season games may get scratched. and there is a lot of money on the table. the nfl has this issue. martha: in greece we have thousands of workers walk off the job because greece has had to tighten its belt. they made a lot of budget cuts

to prevent a massive default. that's what we are witnessing on the streets. gregg, what's the latest here. >> reporter: today a 24-hour strike by hundreds of thousands of workers. the police are using teargas, throwing rocks and projectiles. 30,000 public workers will be put on partial pay. all this is to meet the demand of the international monetary fund. they are continuing to bankroll greece to keep that country from defaulting and going bust, take other countries along with it. to be continued on that score. martha: what about italy?

that's another sensitive spot. talking about italy, overnight, moodies downgrading that country's credit rating. and more worries come from belgium. that has a lot of exposure. the eu and imf. banks affected, economics affected. the worries in europe are of a double-dip recession. the same fear that's happening in the u.s. we saw the worst 4th quarter in the stock markets in years. today with news that there may be help, the stock markets are up. martha: that has a lot of implications for us at home. gregg palkot.

time to log out. martha: tim geithner said do you think we'll have a double dip recession? he said i think most people feel we are in one. bill: we'll watch in a couple minutes. herman cain is on fire. surging to the top of the polls and tying mitt romney in the top slot. we'll talk about that shakeup in the republican field. martha: let's talk about this incredibly sad story that played out yesterday. it started out as a day celebration and turned out terribly tragic. an incredible rescue took place on the east river. an eyewitness who saw all of this unfold from start to finish is joining us next. >> the respond was quite

amazing, whether it was airborne response, water born response or trucks and cars that drove here. the response was everything we could ask it to be.

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for many, prescription nexium not only provides 24-hour heartburn relief, but can also help heal acid related erosions in the lining of your esophagus. talk to your doctor about the risk for osteoporosis-related bone fractures and low magnesium levels with long-term use of nexium. possible side effects include headache, diarrhea and abdominal pain. other serious stomach conditions may still exist. let your doctor do his job, and you do yours. ask if nexium is right for you. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. bill: we have breaking news from california. we have a report of two people dead, four injured, a manhunt

underway. live pictures from ktvu, the helicopter in the air. at a rock quarry and cement company gunfire erupted earlier today after an employee meeting broke up. the santa clara county. someone reportedly pulled out a weapon then fled the scene. numerous law enforcement agencies in that area. cupertino is best known for the company apple. two dead, four others injured. and a manhunt underway for the gunman or gun woman. we have not been able to ascertain which. martha: herman cain getting some major traction in the race for

2012 presidential nomination. the former godfather's pizza ceo is rubbing elbows you might say with the front runner mitt romney. this is a cbs poll. mitt romney and herman cain at 17% and rick perry at 12%. the first thing want to ask you. i want to go to chris christie for a moment. i felt like a lot of people saw him and heard him for the first time yesterday when he was out there. what is the takeaway for chris christie. >> the field is set. there are probably no more potential presidents getting in the race. christie was hugely popular with wall street.

he was an insiders' favorite. you lose sense of the fact that maybe he wasn't as famous as you thought he was. but with his refusal to get in the race i think we have got the lineup now. martha: let's look at the lineup. judging from your notes you sent me this morning by email, you are not too impressed. >> i think it's wide open. republicans want to beat barack obama and they want that intensely and they are not satisfied with the front runner. the front runner is mitt romney. any other year republicans would have anointed mitt romney. he has run before. he has ecumenical views, something for everyone. he would basically already been the nominee. but they are holding back. martha: what are they holding back because they were waiting for chris christie?

i think the most interesting poll numbers will be the next group of poll numbers that come out. the donors. they are saying i was backing chris christie, the founder of home depot. he's probably going to get a lot more numbers in the polls and lot more money. >> but the grassroots aren't sold. herman cain has never been elected to anything, an is tied in the polls with mitt romney. what does that tell you? the grassroots are not sold on mitt romney. romney is not doing himself any favors by attacking perry from the left on social security. his line against perry to seniors in florida most recently, if you vote for this guy he will take away your social security and you will be

eating cat food. it's the same thing the left says about the right. that turns off the grassroots every time. martha: when we look at the 17-17 matchup. something in the mid-teens for herman cain. what we are seeing is the tea party vote seems to be collecting between herman cain. you have got that versus mitt romney which is the more mainstream conservative vote. is there a possibility we may see some kind of split here in terms of the vote. might we see one of these people run as an independent candidate? how possible is that and what would it be like? >> one thing you never see in republican party is chaos. you saw sarah palin, rick perry, michele bachmann, herman cain.

all of them for a moment were the choice of the tea party, the grassroots. this is not going away, this split. i think they will swing behind and be good soldiers behind the establishment choice. but you never know. if there was ever a year where something crazy could happen, it's this year. i wouldn't discount that at all. martha: $17 million went into the coffers of rick perry. what does that mean? >> that's good. rick perry is not stupid. you can't be governor of texas for 11 years and not know what you are doing. this guy knows how to raise money. most of that money apparently came from outside of texas. i don't think perry is going away. harris: tucker, always god to receive you. bill: some good news any wish i could give it to you. martha: down 46 is pretty good news at the moment.

bill: investors are watching what's going on in europe with a keen eye. the dow closed up 153 points tuesday. stocks made a late charge in what was a triple-digit deficit. so we finished on the positive side. >> it looks like it's doing its best to stay off that bear market territory. you have the number. 10,200. bill: the a & p has already d the s & p has already gone into bear territory. martha: a legal challenge could prevents apple from selling its iphone 4s in other countries. samsung filed an injunction. samsung claims apple violated its wireless patents it, the latest chapter in the back and

forth patent battles. samsung claims they borrowed from the i phones and ipads in the galaxy lines. bill: there is new fallout on gibson's guitar factory in nashville. court documents show the company uses a wood that -- >> reporter: the tea party is stage big rally to protest against what it calls massive government overreach in the story against gibson. some of the other guitar manufacturers are using the same wood. dave berkowitz of washington, d.c. is concerned that the indian rosewood is illegal he won't be able to get the wood he needs to get guitars.

>> i'm anxious because i have a trade that i love, and have loved since i was 4 years old. it's all i have ever really wanted to do. it's the possibility of seeing the end of an american trade. i feel threatened. report are makes about 12 guy stars a year. but they are worth $9,000 to $10,000 apiece. he says one fine bill from the department of fish and game would put him out of business. the amendment to the lacy act to help protect against illegal logging. but there doesn't appear to be illegal logging. the indian government says the wood it exported to gibson is legal. but the u.s. government says now it's not legal to import into the united states. this created a massive amount of confusion. the national association of music merchants wrote a lower the president and members of congress complaining about the

unintended consequences of the lacy act that we feel are damaging to our industry and the economy. i asked lamar alexander of tennessee about that. he was a co-sponsor of that amendment. he says changes may be needed here. >> it's not unusual for laws to have unintended consequences and when they do we say, we didn't think of that, that may be a problem. let's see if we can fix it. >> reporter: we reached out to the democratic co-sponsor and he did not want to talk to us. his office accused us of whipping up opposition to the lacy act. they said they haven't heard from anybody but gibson. but that does not appear to be the case. martha: president obama is lashing out at eric cantor over his jobs bill. what the president is daring cantor to do.

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martha: i wanted to go back to breaking news unfolding in cupertino, california. it's still dark but they are in the midst of a manhunt. it has been a workplace shooting. two are confirmed dead and four injured. it is a quarry where all of this played out. scene overnight workplace looks to be the scene. they were rushed to a local hospital. critical condition in the early hours of today after an employee meeting taking place. it's a rock quarry and cement company. apparently the employee became upset during the meeting and pulled out a gun and started shooting. this all taking place near

stevens creek boulevard and food hill. he fled the scene and that's where this manhunt began. bill: a big turnout of police cars. president obama getting tougher on eric cantor, calling him out by name after cantor slammed the president's jobs plan. >> i would like mr. cantor to come down to dallas and explain what exactly in this jobs bill does he not believe in. what exactly is he opposed to? does he not believe in rebuilding america's roads and bridges? does he not believe in tax breaks for small businesses or efforts to help our veterans? bill: cantor fired back. he says while the president is in full campaign mode we in the house are going to work for the

people. how you two doing. gretchen, who wins this debate? >> it depend. is the american public paying attention? they tried to vote on this bill in the senate last night and harry reid prevented it from being voted on because he doesn't have enough support. you have a lot of senators up for reelection. proving that it's not a bipartisan bill and it's not even a partisan bill. it's a bill that's going to cost to folks their reelect if they don't d -- their reelection if they don't pass it. >> mitch mcconnell says i want to honor the request of the president to get a vote on the bill. the guy says i can't wait to get

this guy into office. then he wants to honor the request of the president. it's a shame democrats, mostly conservative democrats will not sign on to this. what are they against? what part of it? funding teachers? funding reconstruction? what specifically do they oppose in this bill. bill: it's pretty much the message in texas. is this making you nervous? gretchen, senator reid is proposing to change the funding for this bill because when it came out of the white how it would put an additional tax on people with $200,000 a year. now want to attach it to million airs and billionaires. there is a strategy at play here. a strategy you have heard quite a bit on the president, have you not? >> the strategy is not to move america forward or get funding for teachers. it's not to reconstruct or roads

and bridges. the strategy is to get reelected and have someone to blame. if you read the press clips it says aids that know what's going on here in the senate say they want to get the bill through so they can put it on the house republicans to pass. >> it's amazing that a poll out today show sos congress has the lowest approval ever. 14%. you can rail again the president and what he is trying to do. you have a body of people who have the lowest approval rating. but they also say that republicans are running the show in the house and they are not happy with these people. by the way, gretchen, what is the republican plan? mr. boehner, where are the jobs? he says when he gets elected republicans take over, they will get americans' jobs. where are those jobs? i want to know. >> you can go to gop.gov and

find out. this is what's wrong with washington and the dysfunction of washington. i agree with allen republicans are done this, too in the past. >> bill: i this dead on arrival. >> i think they will pass parts of it, but i don't think it will be the whole thing. >> they will probably piecemeal through it and find what they can agree on so they can say they have done something. that's why it's disgusted with both parties. it's a do-nothing congress. bill: martha? martha: this is just a terrible story that unfold on the east river. now investigators have trying to figure out what happened. this helicopter went straight down into the east river. a man who watched it all happen next. >> i ran over.

it took me about maybe 20 seconds, and i thought i would see people book around in the water. and there was no one. i yelled over to the people that were there, i said, where is everyone, they said they are not up yet.

martha: this man watched it all happen. a chopper crashed into the river on the east side of new york city seconds it took off. an eyewitness who saw the whole thing sprung into action. >> i was yelling to them. there were ropes everywhere. i was yelling on i'm on the phone with 911. but the fdny were the first

people on the scene. this guy came running out. fdny, then nypd. this truck showed up maybe five minutes. they were immediately there. martha: the best, no doubt about it. that witness joins me now on the phone. i understand you are a teacher, robert. >> i am. martha: what grade do you teach? >> a college course. martha: thank you for ducking out. you must be getting over having witnessed all this. >> i'm glad to help out. it was a pretty emotional day. you know, as i mentioned, i was there specifically to watch the helicopters take off and land with my son who is 9 months old. just a normal. the rotor was spinning normal. as soon as it took off it was immediately in trouble. it started circling around and very low, and it just went

straight down into the water upside down. martha: what did do you then, you must have felt like you whether on person who knew at that point. i ran over, call 911. i ran over to the stroller, but there is a parking lot that's kind of on the corner, i couldn't really get there immediately. but i got to a point where you could see what was going on. and the skids were stick out of the water and no one was up out of the water. at least two minute passed and no one came up out of the water. you feel helpless when you are a situation like that. martha: they were there really quickly as you point out in that sound bite. then this guy went running down with his wetsuit half on. you wonder what these people are made of that they are able to do this. >> you needed people in the

water. there were a lot of people standing around. as soon as one of the guy from the police depth ran to the scene with a wetsuit, he was zipping it up. when he got in the water it was like thank god. you needed people in the water immediately. >> you are a hero in this case, too. >> no, no, i'm a witness. martha: you did it quickly. we give you credit for that. because they were there so fast they saved four lives. sadly one life was lost. >> four out of five. martha: get back to your classroom. thank you, robert. bill breaking news out of santa clara, california. a manhunt underway after a workplace shooting happened 30 minutes ago in cupertino, california. we'll get the latest where this gunman might be in minutes.

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insured through unitedhealthcare. remember, the annual enrollment period begins and ends earlier this year. call unitedhealthcare today about an aarp medicarecomplete plan. you can even enroll right over the phone. or visit us on the web. don't wait. call now. bill: back to the breaking news. there is a manhunt underway

in the north california. town is county is cupertino and the town is santa clara. a gunman opened fire after an employee meeting earlier today. this is at a cement company called lehigh. other own claudia cowan is en route to the scene. we'll talk to claudia if they can find the gunman. 7:00 in california. martha: there are calls for a special counsel to look into allegations that america's chief law enforcer may have lied to congress. house republicans sending a letter to president obama telling him that eric holder can not investigate himself. back in may the attorney general testified about operation "fast & furious". the botched federal gun running sting that may have led to the death of an american border agent. and now the attorney general is being accused of perjury. that is how we start a brand

new hour of "america's newsroom." i'm martha maccallum. good morning, everybody once again. bill: i'm bill hemmer. good morning, everyone. congress demanding answers after brian terry was shot dead by a gun thought to be from that failed operation. the key question is this, to the attorney general, when did you know about "fast & furious". >> when did you first know about the program, officially i believe called "fast & furious", to the best of your knowledge, what date? >> i'm not sure the exact date but i probably heard about "fast & furious" for the first time over the last few weeks. martha: that is the problem, that answer. because a memo to eric holder about a year before that referred to this covert mission known as "fast & furious". joined by judge andrew napolitano. host of "freedom watch" on fox news business network and a fox news judicial analyst. good morning, judge. >> good morning, martha. martha: i can't say the date for sure. it was probably around this date.

does that protect him? >> well, what protects him is what his intention was. if his intention was to mislead the congress, then he could be prosecuted and tried for a crime equivalent to perjury. the punishment is the same. it is five years in jail per lie whether you're under oath or not. so if they were going to prosecute him and this only happened once in modern times where the attorney general was prosecuted that would be john mitchell. they we have to demonstrate to a jury that he intentionally misled. that it wasn't a memory failure. there was some sort of misleading here, there is no question about it. the issue is did he do so intentionally or was just human nature that caused him to forget this. martha: what about the claim coming from the justice department that he was aware of the program and that he wasn't aware of the controversy related to the program. so what he was referring to, i guess is the indication that he became aware there was a controversy surrounding all of this a couple weeks prior to that congressional testimony? >> that would be a defense

that he would have to assert in a jury trial. he would basically say, i understood the question to me when did i learn the program, not when did i learn of controversy. look, i get 4,000 of these memos every week. we have 253, giving you numbers hypothetical, going on at the same time. i couldn't possibly keep track all of them. when they rise to the front page of "the washington post", and i realize there is a controversy, i know of it. that is the type of defense he would make. martha: does that sound like a legitimate defense in this case to you? >> it does except his justice department is prosecuting other people by rejecting those defenses. roger clemens is being prosecuted not for lying under oath but giving misleading answers about the contents of his blood. there is a double-standard for this justice department and the republicans are quite proper to exploit that. >> judge, thank you. very much. coming up, congressman darrell issa, who is the chairman of the house oversight and government reform committee who has led

the charge on this since day one. he is our guest, coming up minutes from now what he wants to happen next in this investigation and what might mean for attorney general eric holder. bill: in the meantime the battle for the nomination in 2012 on the republican side. breaking news on the monry race for the republican nomination. rick perry posting some big numbers at least when it comes to fund-raising. perry's camp announcing a whopping $17 million haul sie mid-august. that is month and a half. perry's chief rival, governor mitt romney, brought in 18 million during his first fund-raising period. perry's effort is considered stronger because he was weeks behind his fellow candidates. that is one of his strong points. 17 million is impressive. martha: we'll see where the money goes at this point. we want to hear from you. who do you think the 2012 republican frontrunner in your mind? this is very open race. you have herman cain, mitt romney and rick perry. the other candidates are on

there as well. you can vote for any one of them. foxnews.com/"america's newsroom.". if you want to send a comment at martha maccallum or bill hemmer. you can tweet us as far as that goes. so far 41% in that group say herman cain. 33% say someone else. only 189% support mitt romney in this particular question we've been asking online. 6% are going for rick perry. bill: polling is still open. you can vote right now. tell us what you think. republican lawmakers already said president obama's jobs plan is dead on arrival. now it looks like democrats may have reservations how it will be paid for. new reports suggest that senate majority leader harry reid now protest prosing a mill -- proposing a millionaire's is your tax. details are scarce but even with the reid tax the president's plan may be doomed to be failure. we have the co-host of "the five".

what is reid's idea? >> he proposed it behind closed doors. the leak is anyone earning over a million dollars a year will get a 5%, he calls it a surcharge. it is really additional tax, to kind of pay for that jobs bill. remember, bill, the jobs bill, $447 billion two ideas have been floated how to pay for it. number one, send it over to the super-committee which is charged finding a trillion 1/2. make it $2 trillion going forward. that didn't go over so well. what about closing loopholes? another word for increasing taxes on couples making over $200,000 a year and oil companies that didn't go over too well, senate democrats in oil states says i don't like that one either. harry reid, i guess on the advice of chuck schumer, because he floated this idea vocally a couple weeks ago, guess they got together and probably came up with this idea, hey forget the 200 grand, forget the oil companies. let's just tax millionaires or people making over a million bucks. more class warfare is all it

is. bill: from what i understood earlier the bill would pay for itself limiting deductions you could take if you made more than $200,000 a year? >> that's what they said. they said they would close loopholes on couples making over 200 grand a year and plus close loopholes on oil companies. you can call it what you want but at the end of the day it has to get senate democrats to street for it. if they don't get the 60 votes in the senate, they're not going to get it. that's why mitch mcconnell, you talked about this a little while ago, hurry up, mr. obama, you're in such a rush to pass this bill. take a vote in the senate, knowing very well he didn't have the 60 votes. so they're trying anything to find a way to get 60 senate democrats to say yes. by the way then it has to go over in the house where the republicans hold the gavel there. it may not even pass the house after it passes the senate. a lot of wrangling going back and forth. the bottom line the democrats want, yes, they want a spend a lot of money. though want to spend 447 billion bucks the way they

want to pay for it again and again and again is class warfare, tax people who create jobs. who frankly create jobs. tax them more. bill: you only have three more shows to do today. >> that's about right. bill: off you go. martha: keeps him out of trouble. have to keep him very busy. go to the jackson trial for a moment. forensic evidence is taking center stage in the case against michael jackson's doctor. the jurors have already heard from one of the doctors ex-girlfriend's. she games she was on the phone with dr. murray the moment that he realized that jackson was no longer breathing. listen to this. >> i was just talking and the next thing you know, i said, hello, hello? and i didn't hear anything. that's when i pressed the phone against my ear and i heard mumbling of voices. it sounded like the phone was maybe in his pocket or something. and i heard coughing. martha: adam housley joins

us now. he is covering the case from beginning to end. adam, what did dr. murray's girlfriends, there were three of them who testified in this, what did they have to say? >> reporter: it was a parade of girlfriends. the first two said they were just acquaintances in all fairness of dr. murray. the first two were part of the prosecution's contention that he was talking on the phone, texting and not paying attention to michael jackson on the day he was taking these drugs on the day he died. the girlfriend, she sparred with prosecutors. they had her not only agree she spoke to dr. murray on the phone and that she accepted some of the drugs shipped to her residence in santa monica, california, that the prosecution contends would be used by michael jackson at his house just a few miles away in the mansion where he would eventually pass away. once that parade of women was done, then tim lopez took the stand. he was the pharmacist that delivered more than 200 bottles of propofol to

michael jackson among other drugs. here is what he had to say about that. >> did he give you specific examples of products or medications that he was interested in? >> he asked me specifically to find pricing and availability of propofol and normal saline iv bags. >> reporter: once again that was the pharmacist on the stand for some time talking about the drugs including the cream that would help lighten the skin michael jackson would get through dr. murray. today we expect some of the investigators to be on the stand, including playing of a two-hour tape done right after michael jackson died with dr. murray. that should be quite an interesting time in the courtroom, martha. martha: boy, it should be. thank you very much, adam housley. bill: the question, whether or not michael jackson's fingerprints were on that bottle of propofol. that will be critical to this case. martha: sure will. bill: the actor morgan freel man was the first to say it. now samuel l. jackson saying

it is obvious. the tea party is racist. congressman allen west, the tea party supporter on the latest lashing from hollywood. we'll see what he says about that. martha: there is this story. police say a 10-month-old baby girl was snatched right out of her crib in a quiet suburb. a live report on a possible lead on a suspect. >> the way this has developed, usually we find the kid pretty quickly if it's, you know, if the story is kind of hinge can i we usually find holes in it pretty quickly. so far here we are in the afternoon and we haven't broken anything on it yet.

martha: house republicans are now demanding an explanation from u.s. attorney general eric holder after some new documents have been revealed and these documents show that holder may have misled congress while he was testifying about the controversial gun running operation which has become known as "fast & furious".

so the chairman of the house judiciary committee is now calling for a special counsel to investigate this matter. >> i'm not suggesting perjury. i am suggesting that there is a conflict between what the attorney general told us and what these documents that were just released show us. that is, that apparently he knew about, more about the "fast & furious" operation a year before he was willing to tell the judiciary members that he knew about it. martha: this is of course not the first political controversy eric holder has been a part of. he faced criticism when he called for investigation into cia abuses during the bush administration. last year he admitted during congressional testimony that he did not read arizona's immigration law. he reversed his position whether the 9/11 conspirators should be tried at gitmo or here in new york. he believed they should face a military tribunal. there are a number of issues for eric holder. that is one side to this equation whether or not this

compounds issues for eric holder and the future for him as attorney general. then there is the specific issue of "fast & furious". i'm joined by republican darrell issa, who is the chairman of the house committee on oversight and government reform. congressman issa, good morning. thanks for being with us this morning. >> good morning, martha. martha: let's take on the specific issue first which has to do with this investigation. do you agree there should be a special counsel and how would that change the work that your committee has done on this investigation? >> well, one of the challenges, martha, is if they say they want a special counsel and then the justice department stonewalls the special counsel the way they have us for almost a year, what ends up happening they push it until after the election and then perhaps we really never get our justice for this wrong-doing that led to brian terry and others dying on both sides of the border. more importantly, i think chairman lamar smith said it very well. these inconsistencies in, if you will the duty of candor

by the attorney general have to be resolved, and they have to be resolved before the judiciary committee and they have to be resolved quickly. you can not come before that committee and answer without candor questions. he may or may not have perjured himself but he certainly failed to answer my question and jason chafe fets -- chaffetz's questions about what did know. he implied he knew nothing when he at least he knew something. martha: you asked him the question. now he is saying basically the justice department said on his behalf that is not the way he understood the question. he thought the question was about whether or not he knew about the controversy, and that they have so many memos and so many operations going on in the justice department he simply can not be on top of every single one of them but he didn't know the about the controversy until couple weeks before he answered that question. do you believe that answer? >> well, we certainly would like to believe that he was disingenuous but not lying.

the fact is, the people who are making those statements on his behalf are lying on his behalf, period. he had to know from his weekly briefing, there were seven separate briefing that included "fast & furious". his number two and number three were intimately involved. he had to know more about "fast & furious" than i learned about it a couple weeks ago. martha: right. >> this is a man, martha, who very carefully, doesn't like the question, answers it the way he wants to. he had every obligation to say i may have not known all the details but of course i knew about "fast & furious" i was briefed somewhat on it weekly. he needs to come forward and at least admit that what he said right now is untrue and he needs to clarify it before the committee. martha: i know, i understand what you're saying and i know that you have concerns about the special counsel and whether or not that will basically lead to this whole thing being kind of put on a back burner and shoved and pushed past the election. when do you expect a response from the white house to a call for special counsel? >> i would expect they will

do it on the same timetable they have done all of the discovery our committee has wanted based on the abuses of this administration. they will do it very slowly. more importantly, martha, the brian terry family needs to have closure. they need to know that the people responsible for fast and furious all the way to the top have to be held accountable. this was a felony stupid operation that led to 2,000 plus weapons getting in the hands of the worst of the worst. that has to be resolved. we can't wait for a special prosecutor on that. the american people deserve accountability for this kind of wrongdoing. martha: yeah. and i'm sure brian terry's family cares less about the larger political implications of what eric holder is being brought into here and what he may have known or not known and they want some answers in terms of the whole program and happened to their family member. >> exactly. martha: congressman darrell issa thank you so much. >> good to see you, martha. bill: want to get back to that breaking news on the deadly shooting in

california. police do not have the gunman in custody. two are dead. four are injured a manhunt is on going. this is south of san francisco, the town of cupertino. claudia cowan is en route to the lehigh permanent mentae company. they say they were currently in lockdown. we'll get more on the story in a matter of moments. president obama insisting the tax hike on wealthier americans is not class warfare and using ronald reagan to prove his point. what does the architect of reaganomics think about all that? we'll ask him in minutes.

bill: back to this fox news alert right now. the manhunt underway in northern california. a man opening fire at a work place meeting. we do not have a lot of information now. we know a manhunt is

underway. two people are dead. for people were taken to the hospital. claudia cowan is enroute, by telephone. claudia, are you near the scene of lehigh permanente a concrete company there? >> reporter: that's right, bill. this shooting happened after a early morning shift change at the lehigh quarry cement plant. in the coupe tear -- cupertino hills. with assault weapon and a handgun. two dead, four injured. there may be additional victims inside. take a look at the scene. you can see all kinds of law enforcement responding to this incident. santa clara county sheriff's department members and also the s.w.a.t. team as well. numerous ambulances on a scene. the entire area has been dord cordoned off as the quarry remains on lockdown. the employees who showed up for the shift change early this morning are milling about across the street. totally mystified what went on there this morning. they by and large call this

an easy going place to work. everybody happy with their good-paying jobs in this economy. everybody has been talking to the reporters this morning saying they are just in shock that a shooting like this has happened. apparently carried out by some kind of a disgruntled employee. the shooter may still be armed. again the entire place on lockdown while the manhunt continues. a very active crime scene, bill. a very tense situation. we'll keep you pochted once we get on scene. bill: claudia, this appears this is a4 hours operation there at this concrete company. >> reporter: right. bill: do they know if this individual is a man or a woman? is there any information given out about him or her? did he or she drive away or run away? do we know that, claudia? >> reporter: we do not know the identity or the gender of the shooter. there was unconfirmed reports that the shooting was continuing to happen. perhaps from the inside of a car but that has not been confirmed. apparently security at this place is very, very tight. that's why we're

understanding this was an employee because nobody could get onto the grounds of this facility unless they worked there. but again, we don't know the identity. we're hoping to find out more information later on this morning. bill: claudia, thank you. we'll let you go so you can collect some more information there too. we've been in contact with the company. it is currently in lockdown there in cupertino. claudia cowan, thanks for that. breaking news on "america's newsroom." back to that when we get more. martha. martha: there is another hollywood heavyweight accusing the tea party of racism. samuel l. jackson, now adding his voice to this very hot debate. he says he believes the tea party just, quote, wants to get that guy out of office. tea party supporter congressman allen west has his response to this. there he is. he will be right with us coming up. >> the vehicle is off-road. bill: maybe this guy should have stayed on the farm, huh?

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bill: 10:30 hear on the east coast. another prominent african-american heavy weight accuse ug the tea party of racism. samuel l. jackson says, quote, i any everything is geared toward getting that guy out of office, whatever that means. it's not politics, it is not

economics. it all boils down pretty much to race. it is a shame. alan west is a republican congressman out of flashes the only republican member of the congressional black caucus and a member of the tea party caucus in the house and sir thank you for your time. good morning to you. >> thanks for having me, bill. bill: what is samuel jackson saying here? >> i think samuel jackson needs to play more attention to the upcoming move the avengers next summer and pay attention to the policies that have failed. there is a 16.7 unemployment rate in the black community. a 20% unemployment rate for black adult males and a 45, 46 unemployment for black teenagers. i think the racism is coming out of the white house and the administration. it's not coming from conservatives as myself which are trying to simila simulate

and fix the policies. bill: you're suggesting the blame should be on the administration for lack of effectiveness, correct. >> that is exactly right. it is about policies that failed. it's about a stimulus that failed. it's about a 2 trillion-dollar healthcare law that is seeing a rise in insurance policies and is failing. that's where jackson needs to place his focus, instead of looking at the tea party as a scapegoat. the tea party is standing on fiscal responsibility. limited government that is constitutionally aligned. and our national security. and free enterprise systems. bill: we are watching some video taken at a tea party event some time ago. what has been your experience at these events? >> my experience at those events is that people are looking for individuals, and it's not about color, it is all about your character, the principals of

governance that you promote that will turn around this economic ship of state in the united states of america. bill: race is becoming an issue in this campaign already. herman cain is bubbling up for whatever reason. a straw poll in florida where he finished in a commanding first place. all accounts say a fairly good debate down in florida as well a week and a half ago. he was asked about race and politics as a republican just yesterday on fox. i want you to listen to this. >> i believe that as the republican nominee that i will get a minimum of a third of the black vote, not because i'm black, but because of the solutions i'm putting on the table and the people who are thinking for themselves and considering these solutions, it transcends whatever ethic group that you might be a part of. bill: i was curious about what he has been saying lately about african-americans. as you comment on that. cbs is out with a poll that

shows herman cain tied a mitt romney 17% to 17%. what do you make of that, the rise of herman cain and how he suggested the african-americans have gone democratic for the wrong reasons. >> first of all what you see is obviously herman cain that gets -- a candidate who gets a lot of tea party report. that negates what samuel l. jackson and morgan freeman have talked about. when you look at the black community, probably about 18 to 20% identify themselves as conservatives. that is a number that has been increasing. some of the very critical conservative minds out there, walter williams, happen to be african-american. i think what you're seeing with herman cain is someone who is against the tide. ol is not a career p common-sense solutions as far as our economic situation and turning things around as far as job growth in this country. i'd like to hear him speak a little stronger on national

security. i don't think we can lose focus on that. bill: are you surprised by what herman cain is doing. >> no, i'm not surprised. this is a wide open field and americans and conservatives and people on the republican side are going to judge individuals based upon the message that ty can present that will turn things around in this country. as we said, the president admitted on sunday that people aren't as good off as they were four years ago, and i think that is directly attributable to some of the failed policies that he's put forth. bill: thank you for your time. i look forward to talking to you more about not just this but what we are doing in our country. thank you for your time. martha: a desperate search going on right now for a missing ten-month-old child apparently snatched from her crib in the middle of the night. ten-month-old lisa irwin's mom said she put her to bed at 10:30 at night.

when they are father came home she was gone. the f.b.i. is joining in this search at a quiet town with nothing of this kind. we have more from kansas city. >> reporter: more than 24 hours after an amber alert was issued for little lisa irwin the little girl is still missing. she went missing late monday night. her mother said the last time she saw her was 10:30 when she put her to bed. the father noticed the baby was missing when he came home from work at 4:00am. he made the call to police. police, detectives, canine units are searching for clues of the missing 10month-old girl. evidence shows that someone may have broken in through the bedroom window and kidnapped the baby. the amber alert was called off. detectives questioned the mother but they say that is nothing unusual to get a statement from

the parents. they say the parents are cooperating in the investigation. there is no suspect. kathy quinn from kansas city. martha: that is a very upsetting story. bill: now you have the f.b.i. involved too. a serious deal. martha: it minds me of the lindberg baby kidnapping. in the middle of the night somebody sneaks into the house and breaks in through the window. they are interviewing people that are close to the child and there may be some answers there. we heard from a policeman earlier on this investigation who said they've done all the normal things that they do, and they are not getting any leads so far in this case. so it is quite -- bill: that family and the baby, right? the white house is saying that the wealthiest americans should pay a little bit more and it's not class warfare, and the president claims ronald reagan would have agreed with him. >> you know who this guy was? it wasn't a democrat. wasn't some crazy socialist.

it was ronald reagan. it was ronald reagan. last time i checked republicans all thought reagan made some sense. bill: is the president aligned with reagan? we'll ask art laffer who is the architect of rerbgs aganomics. martha: three hours away from landing this guy jumps up and screams about hijacking, we'll tell you about the flight from hell for these folks, how it all ended. >> just foul-mouth, three houfrs it. like a possessed person you know when they keep going on and on. they wanted them to shoot him, he wanted to punch them, he was calling them all sorts of names. it's what they do. accept it.

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bill: scare in the air not enough to take a transatlantic flight off course. federal air marshall's handcuffing a passenger to his seat on board a delta flight

from amsterdam to detroit. the guy started ranting and raving, rambling on about a laundry list of bizarre claims that put passengers on edge. >> picked a bad seat today. i was literally right next to him. >> he started yelling about hijacking. started yelling that the passengers were being died to, that they don't know what is really happening. he started kicking the exit door. >> he did not have a weapon. reports say he refused to be quiet even after being cuffed to the seat, saying he's an american businessman, a father of four who travels internationally all the time. martha: let's move on and talk to you a little bit about this this morning. president obama has invoked some famous words from ronald reagan in an attempt to hit back at republican claims that his proposal to raise taxes on the wealthy is fueling class wa warfare. president obama says ronald reagan would have backed the

president's tax plan. listen to all of this. >> you know who this -- who this guy was? it wasn't a democrat. wasn't some crazy socialist. it was ronald reagan. it was ronald reagan [. [applause] >> last time i checked republicans all thought reagan made some sense. so the next time you hear one of those republicans in congress accusing you of class warfare you just tell them, i'm with ronald reagan. martha: how about that. so here is ronald reagan in the quote that president obama was referencing. reagan in his own words back in 1985. >> we're going to close the unproductive tax loopholes that had the wealthyvoiding paying

their fair share. they sometimes made it possible for millionaires to pay nothing while a bus driver was paying 10% of his salary, that is crazy. martha: let's start with out with arthur laffer who was a former reagan economic adviser and the architect of reaganomics and new every detail of exactly what ronald reagan felt the economy needed to get moving. good morning, good to see you as always. >> good morning, martha. how are you doing this morning. martha: i'm doing quite well. thank you very much. take a look at these two quotes. it does sound as if they are saying the same thing. >> i think reagan would have been disgusted with president obama's plan and the misuse of his quotes. martha: really? >> he cut tax rates on the wealthy if you'll remember. in the 86 tax hikes we dropped the highest marginal income tax rate from 35% to 28%. at the same time you close loopholes of course, you'd much rather about the wealthy paying taxes than hiring lawyers, accountants, deferred income

specialists. congressmen, senators and presidentses. but this president is not doing that. he is taking one part of the quote totally out of contest and in my view it's disgusting, it's deceitful and disingenuous to do that. and he's misusing reagan and it irritates me enormous. martha: i can tell. >> it's such a facade. he's doing it for pure political gain. it's outrageous to me. we tried to get a flat tax back then. reagan raised the tax rates on the lowest income groups, if you'll remember getting rid of all these loopholes to have a revenue neutral tax cut on the upper income groups to get the system really growing and going again. martha: it seems to me there is a bit of a dived here. clearly president obama wants to let go of all of the bush tax cuts and let all of that expire for the wealthiest americans. that would clearly be a tax hike on americans. we hear a lot about the other

end of this equation which is to eliminate a lot of corporate loopholes that do exist. >> sure of course. martha: they like to target certain industries in this regard, they want to go after the oil companies, and the corporate jets and all that which we've heard on and on and on. wouldn't president reagan be in favor of eliminating a lot of the tax loopholes that exist, if you want to move to a more flat tax for corporations as well, perhaps ala herman cain and the 999. martha: herman cain is exactly correct on the 999. reagan would have loved to eliminate the loopholes as we all have proposed. the tax deductions, exemptions e exclusions in exchange for a tax rate reduction across the board and a flat tax. you can't have one without the other. this is just ridiculous demogogary. president reagan would have disliked everything president obama is saying.

martha: when you look at the republican candidates who is -- who has the most resonance with you in terms of reagan tphopl mix and what they are proposing. is it herman cain? and what do you think about mitt romney and rick perry's own ideas about this. do you think they would be hardnosed about really doing real tax reform if they were to have their own admission? >> when i look at the three you just mentioned. michelle bachmann, huntsman are right in there too, they are all proposing similar types of plans to get americans going. getting rid of deductions, exclusions exemptions. i think herman cain's 999 proposal is probably the most precise detailed proposal i've seen and it's absolutely spectacular. but i know rick perry very well an is proposing very similar thins. what he's done in texas is phenomenal. if you look at mitt romney, mean, he is phenomenal as well proceed proceedings this. republicans have a whole group of people right there who are marching really on getting

america going by lower rates, flatter based tax reform. martha: simplify the tax code for the corp corporations, lower the taxes across the board for corporations was the plan. >> that's right but you can't have one without the other. martha: thanks for the reaganomics lesson this morning, art. it's always good to see you. >> it's a pleasure, thank you, martha. bill: it's like 1986 again. martha: all your favorite tunes. bill: right there for you. jon scott is coming up. we'll have things down in the newsroom. jon: i promise not to sing, bill. thank you doing well. lots of news to cover today. surging candidate herman cain is our guest. we'll talk about new poll numbers likely to put a smile on his face. keeping a close eye on the markets today as well after some mixed news on jobs. we'll update you on those two shootings underway in california. while we're talking about that, have you heard about the quote, realignment going on? california's prisons?

some very bad folks could wind up leaving the prison system there. we'll take a look. as always, we want to hear from you, go to foxnews.com/"happening now," click on the america's asking tab, get your thoughts into us. bill. bill: we'll see you in eleven minutes on "happening now." a police chase of a whole different kind. have not seen one like this before have we? while the driver's choice of vehicle may cost him some serious jail time. where do you go to find a busess

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this next guy will spend four and a half years we're told in prison for this.

>> offroad, offroad. martha: it was in england if you didn't figure that out from the commentator there. look at this. he is flying over the hedge roads, in england there, bill. thinks the worst part of it all. he went right through a cemetery and knocked over tombstones. this is what you do not do when you steal a piece of construction equipment. do you think he finished the public before he did this. bill? bill: i think he did. a couple pints will do that. and you get on tv and you say man, oman, i made a bad call. bill: west virginia could flip to republican. earl ray tombl tpheurbgs narrowly beating his opponent.

he is new to politics. >> the campaign was just overwhelming. people come from all sides from all parts of the states and the reception we were able to receive, as joh ann and i traveled around the state it proves what great people west virginia yans are. bill: dave mcelway is live in beautiful west virginia. what is the reaction from folks. >> reporter: democrats very pleased. they were able to stave off bill maloney. republicans stung by this loss considering the fact they threw a lot of money into this small state in the late stages of campaign. $3.4million was thrown in a lot of that going to a very expensive ad buyout of the d.c. marketplace. democrats are saying that that was an unwise and inefficient ad buy that serves, virginia, maryland and parts of

pennsylvania. very little of west virginia. this victory, democrats are trying to portray this as a combined victory for the local party of west virginia and the national party. they are trying to make this a referendum on obama's policies as it pertains to the epa. debbie wasserman says they voted for tomblin, like obama, hob who has their eye on the ball. president obama enjoys very little support in this part of the country. 28% where democrats out number republicans 2 to 1. bill: thank you for that. live in morgan town, west virginia. martha. martha: the investigation continues this morning and we are waiting for word on why a helicopter plunged into a new york river.

we are live at the crash site. we are hearing that the investigation is getting underway. these are unbelievable pictures. one person died as the emergency crews were springing into action. >> we were there on time, we were there quick, and we were able to help at least four people, it's a great feeling. >> it is one of the great things about being on this job and especially being in this unit this is what we can gather from a lexus crash test genius. [ engine revving ] when you pursue industry-leading safety, you don't just engineer breakthroughs in simulation technology, you engineer amazing. ♪

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