>> brian: can we come over? >> yes, you can. >> steve: finally! >> i have room for all of you. >> brian: and plenty of dip. >> lots of good food. >> steve: linda evan, we thank you for joining us. thank you for joining us and we'll see you back here monday, everybody. bill: terrific show. welcome to friday. we have a packed two hours. there are new documents and details about to go nubt scandal surrounding a public loan to solyndra. that's where we start. i'm bill hemmer. martha: they are out getting their coffee. here is the question they will deal with. did the obama administration break the law when it signed off on his half billion dollar deal to solyndra as newly released emails. the treasury department has some

concerns the deal might violate the law. congressman, good morning. what is in these documents? >> it's becoming more and more clear as we get additional documents that senior officials in the department of treasury urged the administration not to make this half billion dollar loan. friends of his president, donors putting pressure on the white house and the treasury department saying we shouldn't restructure it now that it's on the verge of bankruptcy. bill: were laws broken? >> it's clear that statute did not allow private citizens to get ahead of taxpayers when they restructured the loan and they did that. it's plain and simple and the

emails are clear. i look forward to asking questions of treasury officials this morning. bill: if someone broke the law who is responsible? >> literally no one has stepped up to take accountability. there has been a senior official from the government and the ce to of solyndra. but we need to find out why they ran through the stop signs that cost the american people a half billion dollars. bill: there is word that the u.s. navy was about to do a deal with solyndra. >> folks who were private investors were working hard inside this administration to get favored deals for solyndra. every time we get more documents more questions arise. bill: thank you, mike pompeo,

republican from kansas. martha: a disturbing new report for all americans, a 10-year decline is what a bunch of economists say we are looking at in terms of income. pay fell 7% for citizens of this country the past decade. that's the worst 10-year performance we have seen going back to 1967. here is the real kicker. economists say they don't expect incomes to pick up before 2021. that's a 20-year-long decline in terms of income. that's not a pretty picture. stuart varney joins me now. we heard of year-long recessions. but when you put together two back-to-back decades of declining personal income you are change the face of this country and the way we look at ourselves. >> you are change the

expectation of a couple generations of americans. all the studies done about income in america suggest over the last decade our income has gone down. much of that drop came during this last recession and even after it. in other words, the recovery has not restored our prosperity growth. if you look to the future, they say okay, we'll get a 5% gain in income through 2021. but that is not enough to restore our prosperity level to where it was before this recession. so the bottom line is this. the prosperity growth we saw for a whole generation up until the beginning of the last decade, that was a constant gain in prosperity. that has come to an end. it has gone into reverse and it's not going to improve for another 10 years to come. that's the official view. martha: standards of living in the united states will continue

to decline as we deleverage, that stood out 0. companies were told you can take on more debt. we are looking at a complete reorganization of the fundamentals of that understanding. >> the primary problem is high unemployment because that reduces total income. we also have some inflation, certainly gas prices and food prices that erodes income. so you are right. you look down the road. according to these economists, they say we are not going to restore that growth and prosperity for another decade. it's a bleak outlook and it's unusual in the united states. martha: they say 8.2 unemployment is the likely number. >> reporter: higher. they say 8.3% will still be the unemployment rate by the end of

2013. martha: we did get positive information in the retail sales. any silver lining for folks? >> reporter: retail sales were up 1.1. you take out automobiles and it's up .6%. so you have got a bad news outlook from these economists. by the way, i don't share it. i don't think we are going to go for another decade of no possible far it growth. but the official numbers from the economists say it's a bleak picture. martha: stuart, bucking the trend. >> reporter: i don't want to be bad news every day. i don't want to do that. martha: stuart, thank you very much. bill: now to 2012. awaiting a major speech from rick perry detailing a proposal

on how to rescue the economy. he will unveil it in pennsylvania. which has had success on a new energy industry. energy is the heart of rick perry's proposal. if you go into pennsylvania and look at what's happening in the economy locally. on our map, the deeper the red, the more trouble you have. the lighter the color in green the better you are doing. how is pennsylvania doing the last three years. you can find out going back to november of 2008. the state lost 22,000 jobs. the unhe ployment rate relatively speaking not bad. 8.2% is lower than the national average. how are they doing it? they will tell you they are creating jobs. but historically pennsylvania has gone democrat. if you look on the map here. red is republican, blue is democrat and pennsylvania a few years ago in 2008, barack obama

had no problem winning that state 55% to 44%. what is rick perry going to do today in pennsylvania? steve, good morning. bill: hard hat required on the ground of the u.s. steel mill. what rick perry is expected to talk about is one pill after his economic plan and it's a substantial one and that involves energy. perry was making the round earlier on the morning talk shows reviewing his speech. >> we put a plan together that doesn't require congressional action that will get 1.2 million americans. we do it by opening up these federal lands and federal waters for exploration. we pull back own orous

regulations killing this country. another. >> reporter: from the president's office and various agencies in the federal government could unleash the energy industry to produce more energy, driving down costs, making things less expensive to produce like steel. bill: he's not only one talking about energy, especially on the republican side. who is, steve? >> reporter: it's a traditional republican platform to say we have all of the above energy platform. that's essentially what rick perry said in an op-ed earlier this week and we expect to hear it from this speech as well. john mccain's platform for energy was all of the above. let's do more oil he can moration, natural gas, green energy, solar and what have you. it is a traditional republican platform. jobs is what perry is linking this to. he has experience in his home

state of texas through job growth in the energy sector. bill: thanks, steve. martha: here are some of the stories, the ones we already hit. a major drug bust in arizona. we'll show you what happened when the accused smugglers put up a bit of a fight. bill: where the republican race for that nomination stands. who is dropping and who is back in the game. scott rasmussen shares that. martha: don't mess with texas or the texas governor's wife. anita perry speaking out on her husband's rough month and how it affected them. >> we are the wives. opponents in our own party, so much of that is i think they look at him ... almost tastes like one of jack's als.

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martha: look at this video that came out of a firey air show crash in china. obviously that took a nosedive straight into the ground in china. the pilot ejecting from that plane. see it on the left-hand side? he was miraculously able to eject as it plummeted to the ground. incredible escape for that pilot. bill: new details on this alleged plot to assassinate the saudi ambassador to washington. >> with. >> row expect to how we respond, our first step is to make sure we prosecute the individuals named in the indictment. the second thing we'll continue to do is to apply the toughest

sanctions and continue to mobilize the international community to make sure that iran is further and further isolated and pays a price for this kind of behavior. bill: first mike baker. former cia operations officer. mike, good morning and welcome to you. how much does the iranian leadership know about this? >> they are still trying to sort that out. but it would be rather difficult to believe that the quds force within the islamic revolutionary guard got a wild hair and decided to do this without feeling the need to brief others within the government. the idea that the iranians are sponsoring terrorism overseas shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. they have been doing this for decades. the growing animosity between the saudis and the iranians,

this adds up. but we have an interesting pattern that develops whenever we identify or disrupt a plot, regardless of who's involved, then we get details about the alleged perpetrators, they look like bumblers, or they don't appear to come out of a jason bourne movie. so that's a mistake on our part. bill: are you convinced of this plot? >> yes, based on the information that's been released so far. and my experience in dealing with operations oversaves. there is nothing that makes me smack my head and say it's unbelievable. part of the problem is people want things to look like in a movie. so when the gentleman down in texas. the iranian-american who was drawn into this. when we start getting details

about him, people say he's too disorganized to be a master mind. when you are looking to recruit people, if you are in the iranian quds force, he's a perfect target. they have access to him. he's traveling back and forth to iran. he is a u.s. citizen. he lives here. they can manipulate him. he needs money. bill: in that kind of business those are the people you are looking for. this guy is described as a disorganized man who didn't quite have everything together even as a car salesman. he would get the years wrong on the cars. but they say he was always wrong. we now know they were tracking large sums of cash being transferred from oversaves into the u.s. that's another reason they thought this plot was imminent. when the president says iran pays a price, what does he mean

by that? >> he's playing to the camera. the unsatisfying reality is we don't have much leverage. when we talk about sanctions, the leverage we may be able to exert would have to come with international cooperation. that primarily means getting the chinese and russians onboard. when you are talking about further influence on iran it's probably not going to happen. we do almost no business with iran. so it's not like we can pull back on that stick. the idea that we have to declare this an act of war. i don't think we want to go down that path and open up a third front. bill: martha? martha: a bit of a shakeup in the race for 2012. while some manipulation in the order of the primary date have some candidates ticked off about this and they are protesting that move.

plus ... bill: they are still down there. we thought they were going to get the street cleaner down there. that did not happen. we'll tell you why the protesters claim a big win against the wall street fat cats. martha: they will get rained on today it looks like. [ female announcer ] for frequent heartburn sufferers,

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bill: italy's prime minister narrowly surviving a confidence vote in parliament. his slim majority raising questions about his ability to govern at a critical time in the

economy. the gap is closing 20% of its stores in the u.s. but will expand production in china. snow boarders and skiers lining up for the first run of the season. martha: i can't wait to get out there. love it! occupy wall street protesters cheering. owners of the park they have been snreechg and living in are swierg not going to come down there and clean up just yet. here is what city officials are saying about these rallies. >> this is private property. but it's complex. people have a right to be there. they have a right to establish the ground rules. >> any criticism of the status quo and establishment is

justified. so when you say i play to that, i commend them for being outspoken. martha: david lee miller joins us live in new york city. what happened down there, david lee? >> reporter: there was a combination of relief and joy when the demonstrators got the news. they were bracing for a confrontation. that did not happen. let me roll the clock back three hours. that's when demonstrators got the word the cleanup was off. they used a human megaphone. they don't have earn amplified megaphone. someone repeats it and someone else repeats it and that's how the word spreads. his to the reaction from the demonstrators. "wall street our street."

>> reporter: the demonstrators decided to march through the street. a number of them did make it close to wall street itself. a number of them jumped over the barricades. there were a handful of arrests. nothing very serious. the potential confrontation has been difficult fused. but the situation remains volatile. uncertainty about when and if this park is going to be cleaned. martha: if some of them weren't look for a good reason to call it a day. where is this going, david lee? >> reporter: this is not over. the occupy wall street movement posted on its web site tomorrow they will be marching against chase manhattan bank and later in the day they will have a demonstration in times square at 5:00 in the evening, that is the first time i believe this particular location is going to be used for the -- by the

demonstrators. i talked to a number of the people in the park behind me. as i said in the past, what's it going to take to end this, they say nothing right now. the demonstrations are going to continue. they have no specific goal so it am not going to end. martha: david lee, thank you very much. here is the price tag to new york taxpayers. the cost of overtime for police officers alone is $3.2 million for keeping this in line. as of a week ago police arrested 723 protesters in new york city and there have been dozens of arrests in cities around the country. we are supposed to have a lot of rain today. it could get uncomfortable down there i would manage. >> bill: taxi drivers and drivers in the street. they could use some of that down there. a twister barreling across the state. we'll tell you where this happened. that's manner? the sky. martha: how about this?

is newt gingrich turning the tables in the race for 2012? we'll show you some interesting new numbers on that. >> when your brother-in-law is unemployed's a recession. when you are unemployed it's a depression. when jimmy carter is unemployed's a recovery. nothing will turn america around more than when on election night barack obama loses decisively. business you are in, managing expenses seems to... get in the way. not anymore. ink, the small business card from chase introduces jot an on-the-go expense app made exclusively for ink customers. custom categorize your expenses anywhere. save time and get back to what you love. the latest innovation. only for ink customers. learn more at chase.com/ink

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bill: a fox news alert. the house hearing getting underway on the solyndra scandal. already emails going public. congressman mike pompeo is one of the congress smen asking questions. we asked whether laws were broken as he seefs its. >> it was clear the statute did not permit the administration to allow private citizens to get ahead of taxpayers when they have restructured the loan. it's plain and simple. the emails are clear and i look forward to asking questions of the treasury department officials about that. bill: who pays the price if laws were broken. we are tracking that hearing when there are developments. we'll bring those to you here

live. martha: presidential candidate newt gingrich gang a little bit of traction according to this new rasmussen poll. the former house speaker has been boosted to third place. the first time we are seeing him in double digits. he has herman cain and right romney at 29%. good morning scott, good to see you. you know, it is interesting. i remember the days when newt gingrich was at 2%, 3% in some of the early polls. a lot of people wrote him off. but he had no intention of leaving the scene. with each of these debates he seems to be doing himself some good. >> people like what they hear in the debates. the speaker should be happy to see he's at 10%. but there is a big gap between this third place finish and the

two top runners. the other part of the story is rick perry's performance. he was the front runner and now he slipped back to single digits. martha: let's take a look at this next poll. regardless of which candidate you want to win, who do you think is actually going to secure the gop nomination. the romney folks will like this mom. >> a lot of republicans are saying it's a choice between mitt romney and some other candidate who is not mitt romney. keep in mind we haven't had a single vote cast in a real primary or caucus so these things can change. martha: we are only 80 days away from what is likely to be the date of the iowa primary january 3. so we are getting close. but we have seen a lot of maneuvering. suppose your favorite candidate does not win the nomination. wech it comes time for the

general election, these are likely republican primary voters, would you vote for the republican candidate anyway? clearly they would. >> absolutely. these are republicans. they want anybody but barack obama. the president will supply the passion for the republican voters. it's noting the supporters of all the top candidates overwhelmingly say they would vote for whoever the republican nominee is. ron paul supporters not nearly as enthusiastic. martha: an approval rating for the president. we need to point out this is republican -- likely republican primary voters here. that's why this number is the way it is. how does that set up hisser toically. 84% say they disapprove of how the president is doing. how does that stack up? >> this is what we are seeing in our daily tracking poll. this is pretty consistent in a polar eyed political environment. right now the republicans will

vote anybody who is not named barack obama. democrats show just as much enthusiasm for the president. that's why we end up talking about unaffiliated voters. martha: give me one last thought on herman cain and newt gingrich. they appear to be the two guys who have a shot at increasing their coverage and the amount that people there. rick perry made a comeback many times before as he pointed out this morning. is he out of this based on the responses you are sphreeg your folks? >> it's too early to count anybody out. john mccain never led until the last days of 2007. herman cain has earned the right to have his program vetted a little bit more. can he survive in we don't know. as for speaker gingrich he's establishing himself as a credible voice. but he has high negatives even

among republican voters. martha: 29% like romney. whether he would get that in10 support's nominated. >> if mitt ram any o or herman cain is the nominee, i believe barack obama will provide the passion to get the republican voters to the polls. martha: have a good weekend. bill: we are getting new information on a possible primary boycott. nevada is the latest state talking about moving up its caucus. and republicans are taking a stand again nevada. how did nevada get into this tiff with new hampshire. >> reporter: these states are protective of their early voting. when florida moved theirs up it set other states scrambling to

move theirs up. here is where the problem doms comes in. florida january 31. so iowa moved its to january 3. nevada moved its caucuses to january 14. well, new hampshire cherishes its role right after iowa. but its state laws require its primary on a tuesday 7 days before any other state. so they asked nevada to move its back. nevada said no, thank you. so new hampshire said we'll move our to early december. four candidates have put out statement saying they will not campaign or participate in nevada caucuses nevada won't push back its date to make way for the new hampshire primary. utah's john understandman, rick

santorum and michelle balk man and newt gingrich said they will boycott nevada. herman cain has not issued a statement yet. bill: thank you, molly. we have a ways to go. every day there is a new wrinkle in this. we'll be voting before christmas. martha: more banks charging fees to customers to access their own money. this makes people very unhappy. why the d.o.j. is getting involved. bill: rick perry about to unveil a new economic plan that he says will create almost a million jobs. also will it get him back into that republican field? >> it will open up a treasure controversy of resources we are sitting on, make america energy secure and create millions of jobs. each day was fueled

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martha: video shows tornadoes touching down in virginia. >> i can't believe it. i have never seen anything like that. >> there is a tornado. watch. it's not good. martha: a tornado watch. that's not good. the national weather service confirmed a tornado did hit mere quantico. officials say about a dozen homes and elementary school sustained damage. there are reports at least one person was injured. bill: texas governor rick perry unveiling a plan that he says will get americans back to work and make us more energy independent. here he is earlier today on "fox

and friends." >> i'll be standing up and sharing what americans with plan that will get 1.2 million americans working. don't need congress' involvement. just a president that has the courage to open up our lands and waters and rebuild the epa. bill: doug hyde and juan williams, a fox news political analyst. good morning to both of you. he says he can create 1.2 million high-paying jobs in america. this is where perry is in the latest poll. perry is third at 16%. romney at 23%, cane at 27%. is this what he needs to get a boost or dose need more than this? >> what will determine if he needs more than this, but this is the first start. if you watched perry in the debates he has been uneven and

aloof. in the last debate it almost seemed like he was an afterthought. so he needs to demonstrate he can move forward and demonstrate that in a way that pushes his campaign forward moving into the primary states. in the last debate he was at the plate but seemed to miss. that's something you can't do in october. ask on ex-rodriguez about that. bill: he was on every television station that does news earlier today. how do you think he did? >> he's doing okay. there is a sense of desperation about it. to pick up on the central theme. the strength of his entire campaign is he's a jobs creator. he has the best record in the nation and he wants to bring it to the national level. now, the criticism that's come from his peers in the republican party is he's a lifelong

politician. he's never been a businessman. some of his critics accuse him of crony capitalism offering incentives to bring jobs into texas and they say they are low-paying jobs. today on all the talk shows he has got to put some muscle to it. he's got to say i have got a plan. and you have got to take on herman cain. he's got to say this is more substantial than nip 9-9-9 plan. this is the real deal. then you have to take a shot at the front runner mitt romney and say this is better than mitt romney's plan. he's got to break out. in the debates it didn't happen. now he many got to break out with an economic plan. bill: herman cain isn't the one going after him. his wife is. here is anita perry? south carolina. >> as a healthcare professional, when i hear 9-9-9, i want to

call 911 because it will raise the taxes. if you have a sales tax in south carolina, correct? we have a sales tax in texas. it will take our sales tax which is 8.2%. it will be 17% when i walk out of here. it will be the same thing to you. it's simple. he doesn't need a 9-9-9 plan, he doesn't need a 59-point plan. he has one plan. and he knows how to do it because he's done it in texas. and he has the conservative vision to get our america working again. bill: that was from yesterday. is that effective? >> i'm glad she didn't say the devil is in the dough tails or try to flip the 9-9-9 over. but where cain is not a threat

yet, is in organization and fundraising. that's the key right now. if you want to win iowa and winn hampshire in those key early states. we may be voting next week on the primaries. bill: what did you think of his wife, juan? >> well, you know, she goes on to say she is the one that encouraged him to run. it makes it seem like the governor didn't want to leave texas and it looks like she is firing it up. she loves her man. she is standing behind him. but she is not the candidate. it just is an indication that his campaign is on the roams and the wife, the fire is coming from the wife, it's not coming from the candidate. the candidate is the one who has to have the fire in the belly. so we'll see. bill: two is better than one in many cases. >> she is wonderful. bill: juan, thank you as well.

go to foxnews.com. we have a bya box. also shoot me an email, hemmer@foxnews.com. you will revisit this from a different angle. martha: anita perry i thought was a forceful speaker on her husband's behalf. we'll talk about that coming up. how about this? it was not an easy mission. a major drug bust north of the u.s. mexico border. we'll talk to the arizona sheriff leading the efforts to dismantle a drug bust. >> did the boys wake up? >> were screaming her name and looking for her. they were crying, where is lisa.

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bill: hally barber was asked about herman cain's recent surging in the polls. >> if this election is what it ought to be, a referendum on how president obama has done. a republican is going to win. if her man canes our nominee running against barack obama, he will sweep the south. he is likeable. he does not give you have the impression that he's full of himself. but rather than he is a straight talking person who will tell you -- calls it like he sees them. he's a straight talker and that makes him attractive to people.

bill: the mississippi governor has been raising money for american crossroads. martha: we have seen dramatic footage of a massive drug bust in arizona. with guns raids, sheriff's deputies raiding a gang suspected drug smugglers. sheriff, good to have you here today. >> thanks for having me on. i'm proud of our guys. martha: we are look at dramatic pictures from this bus. >> we have been work these drug trade organizations for months. in the absence of full federal action to fight the mexican drug cartels who think they own the place, we have been going after them with not just our deputies, even the border patrol and i.c.e. on the ground in arizona. we arrested 12 smugglers.

12 search warrants. 12 weapons. we don't know if they are part of the "operation fast & furious" yet. and thousands of round of ammunition. martha: you say you rounded up 1,000 round of ammunition. >> just yesterday. this happens every week, this past month we had 2,000 round of ammunition. 1,000 were ballistic piercing cop-killing bullets and they are all going from metro phoenix being smuggled into mexico to fuel their war. this is what the outrage is. it's not all just connected to the drug trafficking. it's "operation fast & furious" and our own federal government has been a party to this arming the cartels. and we have to fight on a daily basis. martha: i know this is a source of tremendous frustration for you. and i'm sure would you like to determine whether any of those weapons are connected to that program. how do you go about doing that?

>> we have to work with the atf, the very group that facilitated these weapons. 2,000 guns. fully aught automatic ak-47s. they were sniper rifles, one of which has been attrit beautedder to taking down a mexican government helicopter. this drug cartel had 50,000 pounds of marijuana a month. these drugs aren't staying in arizona. they are going all across america. so this fight is america's fight. this fight to secure the border is everybody's concern. then it's not just hundreds of thousands of illegals that come through. what about people from afar from countries of interest who view this as a likely avenue of approach. this is why we have to secure this border. martha: congratulations on that

bust to you and all of those deputies and police and officer who helped you on that. thank you, shaffer. good to talk to you. bill: the president says he's looking for a jobs plan from republicans. speaker boehner had something to say about that. details on a telephone call between the two. martha: plus a noted economist weighs in on republican presidential hopeful herman cain's 9-9-9 tax plan. art laffer reveals surprising information to bret baier. >> our current tax rates are filled with all sorts of awful ducks, chings, pigs and turkeys and they have to be cleaned out and we have to revamp the code. i would love to see that done. at aviva, we're bringing humanity back to insurance

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martha: faceoff over jo between president obama and john boehner. we're told the president called the speaker to congratulate him on passing three trade agreements but apparently the conversation went south a bit. shifted over to the subject of jobs. boehner confronted the president on claims that he made that republicans have no plan for fixing unemployment. in a rare move, boehner's camp released sort of a transcript of that call. more of a statement. but basically it is being said that it underscores the souring relationship between the leader and the president. so that is how we start this brand new hour. lots to talk about this morning on "america's newsroom." glad you're here. i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer. happy friday everybody. martha: happy friday to you bill, you too, martha. speaker boehner tells the president, i want to sure you have all the facts. the republicans released a plan for jabs back in the month of may. martha: hear is the president. >> i've shown my willingness

to work overtime to try to get them to do something to deal with this high unemployment rate. what we haven't seen is a similar willingness on their part to try to get something done. martha: there you have it. he is willing to work. republicans are not. tucker carlson joins me now, editor of "the daily caller" and fox news contributor. tucker, what do you make of all this? >> this is a sign as you suggested a breakdown in communication between the white house and republicans in congress. the difference between the jobs bill the president submitted and ones for instance, senate republicans submitted yesterday is that the president's own caucus doesn't support his ideas. his bill is dead in congress. as of yesterday in the house it had no cosponsors at all because democrats don't support their leader's bill. the republican version is supported by republicans. martha: that has to be sort of the most unrecognized fact of this whole situation. >> right. martha: the president very publicly came out with a

jobs bill, with a big clip on it. showed it to everybody. said this must pass. he went all over the country saying this must pass. the people not supporting, not surprising republicans aren't sporting it, it is surprising his own folks, his own democrats are not supporting it? >> they're not stupid. some of these people run for re-election in swing

martha: making sure people see it. basically they want congressional review of regulations that would impede companies and businesses. >> right. martha: they want to audit existinglations on the books make sure those are not keeping people from hiring folks. taxes no more than 25% on people or on businesses. all forms of energy production and spending cuts. that's the plan. what do you think?. >> yes. i think it is a fairly nice summation of the conservative position on job creation which is, take your boot off the neck of business and they will start hiring people. this is not the president's vision. this is not the vision of the democratic party or democratic caucus on the hill. they are probably not going to support this, i would say. republicans do support it. this next election will be referendum whether the public supports it. again this whole jobs talk

is all for show. it is all about re-election. let me say one very quick caveat. the only thing i think democrats and republicans agree on presently is the corporate tax rate. both side are for reforming way businesses are taxed. you may see some deal. martha: they have got the trade agreement pass. that was one area of agreement that they came together on in that phone call. at least started out to be a friendly one it sound like. tucker, thank you very much. >> thanks, martha. martha: have a good weekend. bill: so we found some new support for herman cain's 9-9-9 tax plan and comes from somebody who knows something about the economy. creator of the famous laffer curve and former reagan economist, art laffer revealing he was one of the people that helped cain support the plan. >> i think 9-9-9 is very good plan. a lot of candidates have a good plan for tax reform. i love the "9-9-9 plan", i think it is a great first

step. first what you want to do on taxes is lower the tax rate and broaden the tax base. you provide people with least incentives to evade, avoid or otherwise knot report taxable income. you give them the least places they can escape. you want a efficient tax code people don't try to cheat on or get out on. his plan does exactly that. it broadens the base dramatically and lowers the rate. it gets rid of the corporate rate which is silly, silly tax. martha: silly chickens and ducks, art laffer. rick santorum is not a big fan of 9-9-9. here is him speaking with neil cavuto yesterday. watch. >> working class families of america will pay a lot more taxes under this "9-9-9 plan". plus it doesn't wash. i will put forward, as i did, a plan that focuses in, i call it and sort of ingest and responding to herman's plan the 0, 0, 0 plan which focuses in on the area of the economy we suffered most,

the job loss. that is manufacturing. martha: if you listen to all this, wait a minute, back up. rewind the tape. i don't even know what the "9-9-9 plan" is. here is what it is. it proposes scrapping the current tax system. this is most revolutionary thing about it. throw it out. start from scratch. 9% corporate tax, down from 36%. 9% personal income tax which is down from a similar number and 9%, national sales tax. that is the rub for a lot of folks on this because they feel it would increase the burden on a lot of lower income people. a second phase though would move to the next level and it would be a fair tax which would ultimately replace individual and corporate income taxes completely. bill: nine. house democrats calling for investigation into new bank fees on debit cards and checking accounts. gerri willis, the anchor of "the willis report", fox business network. good morning to you. >> good morning, bill. bill: what do they suggest

in this? >> they want a big investigation. they think banks colluded and got together and decided they wanted to charge a fee on debit cards. bank of america first out of the chute, $9 a -- $5 a month. $60 a year. we haven't had the fee in the past. consumers are angry about that. republicans are fighting back saying we have to get rid of the durbin amendment banks say that forced them to put the fee in the first place. they say this will cost us $5 billion a year to implement. bill: banks say they are changing the rules because the law is forcing them to change the way they do business? >> that's right. banks are facing increased fees across the board because of dodd-frank. they have hired teams, literally hundreds of attorneys hired by banks all across the nation, particularly here in new york city so they can interpret dodd-frank, implement dodd-frank. the costs are high for those banks to put that law into place. bill: gerri, tough question here, how do you prove that the banks were in collusion with one another?

>> it's tough. it is a high hurdle. these are entities that fight with each other, scrap with each other every single day. they're proud. they don't like to talk to each other. geithner herding the bankers into a room when the economy was in a toilet. it is hard to imagine they sit down and chat about this over coffee in the morning. bill: we've had a whole week of news, gerri. see you on "the willis report." fox business network. >> thank you, bill. bill: thank you, gerri. martha: air traffic errors, not good news because they are on the rise. a government watchdog group released a very troubling new report on this that claims controller errors involving flights near u.s. airports have more than doubled in the past three years. peter doocey live at reagan national airport. peter, what kind of errors are they saying are on the rise here? >> reporter: martha the government accountability office makes clear at the top the american aviation system is arguably the safest in the world. close calls in and around

airports happen almost every single day. committee on transportation infrastructure over in the house wants us to know. the last three years rate of airborne operational errors within the terminal area, within 30 miles. nearly doubled. increased 90%. radar approach environment more than doubled, increasing 166%. rate of operational errors in the tower environment increased by 63%. airborne operational errors, planes flying too close to each other, more than doubled. there were 11 incursions, unauthorized people, plane or things on runways in 2004. that number was up to 18 incursions per million operations every year and the chairman of the aviation subcommittee in the house says quote, airlines and ffa controllers share credit for the safety record we enjoy today however uptick in near-miss events is precursor to tragedy. federal aviation administration must improve its performance in this area,

martha. martha: wow, that is a strong statement. it harkens back to my mind images falling asleep on the job control tower folks we reported on earlier this year. >> they're awake now. martha: what about this new evidence in this report? >> reporter: they basically say they are not surprised they changed rules so controllers won't get in as much trouble reporting their own misstation. their statement, is quote, as a result of this culture change the faa expected to see an increase in reported operational errors. more information will help us find problems and take action before an accident happens which help us build a safer aviation system. interesting, martha, the faa statement only talks about things their controllers did or didn't didn't do but didn't mention the unauthorized stuff, the incursions on the runways. martha: thank you very much, peter doocey. bill: i'm glad i'm not flying today, are you? martha: no i'm running and being on the ground. bill: good luck with all that. rick perry former front runner in race for

nomination. now his wife claims the texas governor is being brutalized and all about their faith. martha: interesting comments from her. alabama enforcing what could be the nation's toughest new immigration law. the justice department set up a hotline center for people who don't like it. bill: he broke his leg on a gridiron. a day later this high school football player is dead. now how is that possible. >> he was always pumped up on the field. he was just an amazing kid. i can't believe he's gone.

bill: tragedy striking a high school football team out of oklahoma. 16-year-old ryan smith, seen here, he's a junior at edmond north high school. he died on wednesday night a day after he broke his leg in practice. what is not clear how he died. the teenager reportedly treated and released the same night of his injury. >> it he was hit by another student and broke his leg in two places. >> very rare for something

like that to happen. very unfortunate. two things that come to mind would be a blood clot developing in the leg after, after the injury. fortunately we don't see them very often. >> he was always pumped up on the field. he was just amazing kid. i can't believe he's gone. bill: sad story there. the medical examiner is trying to determine his cause of death, oklahoma. martha: all right. let's talk about this for you. we are being brutalized she said because of our faith that was from anita perry, texas governor rick perry's wife. his opponents for the gop presidential nomination is beating up on him because of his strong chris00 -- christian values. let's watch. >> our opponents in our party so much of that is i think they look at him because of his faith. he is the only true conservative, well there are

some conservatives and they're there for good reasons. and i feel like god called him too but i truly feel like we are here for that purpose. martha: wow! very interesting hearing from anita perry in that way. byron, she is clearly a wife who is upset with the treatment of her husband, not only by the other nominees out there in the field, but by the media as well. she says because he is christian. she says because of his faith this happened. she claims he is basically the only two conservative out there. what do you think? >> perhaps what is more newsworthy rick perry was asked about these comments in morning show appearances and stood by his wife and thought she was wife. martha: right. >> what would be common in this situation candidates say campaigns are hard. i've got no complaints. he didn't say that. he aligned himself with her comments. >> let's watch actually.

he was on "fox & friends." here is a little piece of that from this morning. >> you better believe she is passionate and she will be out on the campaign trail professing her belief that america needs a president who's focused on creating jobs. martha: raises a couple of questions. one, goes back to this pastor issue who introduced rick perry. he, you know, basically called mormonism a cult and they did not respond real quickly. look, religion plays no part in this. that comes to mind when you look at this situation, firstly. >> well, he was asked, perry again in his morning appearances was asked to repudiate robert jeffers the pastor who introduced him at values voters meeting in washington. again he refused to do it. he can say what he wants to. the pastor has freedom of speech but rick perry doesn't believe it. i think he will end up making a more, or a stronger condemnation of those remarks. martha: that brings me to my

next point. he has fallen off the map in his poll numbers about but there are interesting writing this morning by charlie cook who basically says there are two areas here need to be satisfied in terms of republican voters. one is the true conservative who is not satisfied with mitt romney. and he claims, cook claims this morning, if they decide that herman cain is not the guy they may take another look at rick perry and he might get another shot at this. >> well you know scott rasmussen on in earlier hour, well, herman cain is where rick perry was a month ago. who knows the same fate may await him. i think problem with the perry recovery, he has a lot of money. at least $15 million to go on. that is a lot of money he doesn't have to stop. his performance in the debates has shown he doesn't seem to have thought deeply and long why he wants to be president and what he would do as president. in spite of all of his success as governor of texas he hasn't present the ofed a really effective case why he

wants to be president. not sure he can change that in next couple weeks. martha: getting later and later in the game with this primary schedule. is moving everybody up and squeezing that timeline. byron. we will see you soon. >> thank you. bill: you think they will vote by thanksgiving? martha: you know what will happen? oh, that primary was yesterday in you didn't know that? we're already done. bill: maybe halloween. martha: exactly. bill: big questions this morning during a house committee hearing on solyndra at the moment. did the administration break the law when it signed off on the half billion dollar loan two years ago. we'll update you on that. martha: there are new details in this case this morning on lisa irwin. we now know who was with her mother the night she disappeared in that video. we'll show it to you. >> she is not there. we got up and started screaming for her and looking for her everywhere. she wasn't there. >> she is ten months old. >> she will be 11 months old. her birthday is next month.

martha: all right. welcome back, everybody. 23 minutes past the hour. we've got new retail sales numbers that are just out. they show the biggest gain in seven months. car sales really leading that boost. and this for you, the family of captured israeli soldier gilad shalif, say they except him home by tuesday. hamas militants captured him five years ago. what a homecoming that will be. fierce fighting in libya as rebels make another big push for control of qaddafi's hometown. reb belts say they control about 80% of the city. >> 23 minutes past the hour. there are developments in the search for that missing infant, lisa irwin. police are searching for clue in surveillance video

of her mother shopping hours before the appearance. they say the man with her at the time was her brother. they were buying wine and some items for the baby. the wine was for a family event later that night. now we're getting our first look at home video of lisa shot by her family. that has now gone public. we'll put all this to rod wheeler former homicide detective. rod, good morning to you. >> good morning, bill. bill: a lot to go over quickly. you say companies need a big break in this case. that is obviously and important to you. >> absolutely. bill: -- is that what you're suggestion is? >> they haven't necessarily hit a wall. they have leads continue to come in. but the problem that they have here, bill, this case is lingering on and on. we're up to now almost 11 days in this case and that's not a good sign anytime you have an infant that is missing. what is interesting to me, bill, real quickly the fact that the family just released this home video of this babe i b my question as an investigator, which is the same question that

kansas city investigators have, why would they just release this video now? why didn't they release this video about five days ago, seven days ago. bill: did this come from the police, the family or both? >> actually came from the family this time. but it came from the family by way of the police. and i think that's one of the questions the police have why didn't they get this video earlier? in addition to that --. bill: what is your hunch? if i were the parents i would be like hey, i want to put something out every day so i keep the disappearance of our baby in the news? >> sure. absolutely. that's what you think. the thing is this baby has been missing over 10 days. this video should have been out eight days ago. this video should have been out nine days ago. in addition, bill, i think something else very, very interesting here as we all saw the video of the mother with her brother. when did the police learn about this brother? i think that is a very interesting question. because why is it now we're just learning about this brother? we haven't heard about him up until about two days ago.

bill: we now know it was him and police are saying he checked out. they don't find him suspicious in any way. seems to me from a distance the mother's excuse they play out fairly at every turn. there was one exception to that, that was the lie detector they say they gave her a week and a half ago. they say she failed miserably. she says she passed without a problem. if you think about the brother, whether that video was suspicious or not, and you listen to her in the interviews that she gives to the public and reporters down there, that mom, in my view, seems to check out every time. >> well, not necessarily so. and i can appreciate that. bill: so where? so where does she not? >> from an investigators standpoint. here is where she doesn't check out. her original story. it is very important that you focus on the initial story she gave to the cops in terms how this so-called break-in occurred. the cops reenacted that

break-in and they weren't necessarily able to establish the fact that the person came in through the window. the cell phones were left together on counter. lights on the in the home. a lot of unusual circumstances, bill, for the investigators to shift sift through. bill: rod wheeler today considers the mother is person of interest. >> absolutely. the mother is a person of interest. i think the father is person of interest, and i also think the brother, new brother we saw in the videotape. bill: he checked out. why would they say that if it was suspicious? >> he is still a person of interest. not necessarily a suspect but a person of interest just by virtue of the fact he was nearby this child hours before this baby went missing. bill: rod, thanks for coming in. appreciate your expertise. >> sure. bill: you've been on investigations for many, many years. we'll see where this goes. this is it where you go if you have information on this. in kansas city, missouri. rod, thank you for that. martha: hope they find that baby somewhere. there is something not

revealed yet in this story. we hope this baby is somewhere and somebody has it and you need to let somebody know. we have to find that child. amazing and mysterious, scary story. all right, let's take a look at something where you will be able to meet the man behind the mask, okay? real-life superhero phoenix jones, appearing in a courtroom there in his uniform. he is accused of pepper spraying people outside of a seattle nightclub. he reveals his true identity to reporters outside the courthouse. that is coming up. bill: he is ready for halloween. alabama is enforcing what could be the nation's toughest immigration law. if you don't like it, call the department of justice in washington and complain about it. >> i don't really care what kind of spin the state elected officials put on this, it is going to have a huge impact. in my world it is. in marshall county, it is going to have a huge impact. [ courier ] the amazing story of whether bovine heart tissue

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which is an idea that's getting a lot of scrutiny this morning. mike emanuel is live on capitol hill. so this is the big issue here, mike, that would really reveal a closer tie from the administration or the department of energy to the people who were close to this company. >> reporter: well, martha, republicans on this subcommittee that are looking into the solyndra matter seem pretty well convinced the department of energy stone walled the department of treasury in terms of information on restructuring of seoul rained's loans, a lot of people asking why is it that investors are being paid back first as opposed to the taxpayers, who are on the hook for $535 million for that failed solar company from california. democrats are complaining, saying they should have invited department of energy officials to testify alongside to department of treasury officials, bottom line, house and energy commerce committee chairman fred upton had this to say about the state of the

investigation: >> this investigation will continue until taxpayers get the answers they deserve, regardless of how high in this administration the facts take us. >> and republicans are pledging this is only one of many solyndra hearings that will take place. they say they've already had some department of energy officials. they will invite them back in the future. but clearly, with two department of treasury officials on the stand today, they are trying to get at whether or not they were shut out by the department of energy, whether the department of energy was acting unilaterally in terms of restructuring this loan, even though there was evidence that solyndra was failing. martha. martha: that would be something. mike, thank you very much. mike emanuel. bill: opponents of alabama's immigration law can now call the justice department if they want to complain about what state's crackdown on illegal immigrants. there's a new hotline set up, an e-mail system set up, that's been made for the public to report any issues. what about this? former u.s. deputy assistant

attorney general, good morning to you, sir, down there. >> good morning bill, how are you? >> doing fine, thank you. the federal government is fighting this law in alabama, it's in court right now. what would the government do with these complaints or issues if they receive them? >> well, i think the administration is trying to send a very strong message to alabama officials. they're saying it's not enough that we're going to be challenging your law in federal court, but we're also going to be watching you like a hawk. we're going to be watching how your officials are applying this statute, we're going to be attuned to potential abuses, and we're going to be very receptive, in fact we're soliciting any complaints or concerns that people in alabama have, about how the state officials are applying this law. bill: but is it clear what they're supposed to report? are there guidelines? >> well, the justice department hasn't specified it, other than that they've set up a line for people to call in with complaints, concerns about abuses, and the like. i think you can see the government using this in a number of ways. one way, they could use it to support their ongoing lawsuit, the other way they

could use it is as a potential bases for new lawsuits, if they don't succeed in getting the statute declared unconstitutional, you could see them taking the reports they're getting and trying to start a new lawsuit alleging particular specialized targeted abuses. bill: you're saying if the complaint plays out and it's legitimate they can investigate it and say hey, here's evidence of this law being discriminatory. >> that's right. they clearly are trying to build a case, they've 2k3w09 one lawsuit going, but they're send ago signal that look, even if we lose on the main issue there may be follow-on lawsuits with target cases. bill: and if there is discrimination, is this necessarily a bad thing, then? >> well, the question is whether it's unlawful discrimination. alabama, i think, is saying look, the federal government is not doing enough to enforce the immigration laws, so at this point, we have no choice but to take matters into our own hands. the federal government is saying wait a minute, not so fast, alabama, we are the ones with primary responsibility, and you shouldn't be legislating in this area. bill: i see. but what washington would argue is that it's not a state issue. you know, we found that out in arizona, and now this is

the battle in alabama, and they're saying if you're not going to do anything about it, you don't give us much of a choice. >> that's exactly right. i think the federal government says look, the constitution sets up with primary responsibility for enforcing immigration laws and the states simply don't have a role. i think that probably overstates it a bit. just because the federal government has primary authority doesn't mean there's no role for the states in this -- in this area, the question is whether there's the inteng. bill: it could be harg \dollars/{^ed} -- argued in the supreme court, then. >> that's exactly right. bill: and bounce back and forth between courts. >> absolutely right. if you've got lower courts taking different approaches, at the end of the day that's the sort of situation where the supreme court says look, we've got to step in, say what the law is and sort this out. bill: in alabama, you can hold suspects without bond? all right, you can also allow officials to check immigration status of students in public schools? >> that's right. bill: further than what arizona had done in its law, correct? >> it is.

that is correct. alabama's law i think is widely viewed as the strongest proenforcement law, to the various state laws we've seen. what alabama is saying is yes, our law does require us to check the enrollment or citizenship status of students when they enroll but even if they're here illegally, it doesn't mean they get thrown out of school, it's really so we know the population of our students in our schools. bill: just to be clear a judge in alabama has already ruled on both of those issues and upheld the law so far, so it stands as it is now. we'll see what happens at the next judge. tom, thank you for your time, okay, out of washington. thank you. martha: all right. we're just getting this piece of breaking news that is coming into us and it is what ray la hood, transportation secretary, is now announcing he will leave the white house as of january 2013. interesting to note that he basically said that he had not discussed this. he said he gave no reason for this discussion. so the decision -- to the decision matter he made at

luncheon. he says he hasn't yet discussed his intentions with president obama, according to the source in this story, so we'll keep a close eye on that. he's a republican congressman, known for being a moderate and for crossing over party lines to, you know, come to consensus in the congress, and he is obviously a member of the cabinet. he's going to leave 2013. bill: back to chicago, back to illinois? illinois for sure. martha: to work on convincing congress that they need to have transportation projects to create jobs. bill: do you have a halloween costume? because i have an idea. from seattle, a crime fighter who's finally revealing his identity, calls himself superhero phoenix jones. martha: yep! bill: superhero phoenix jones. martha: are you going to dress as superhero phoenix jones? >> bill: not a chance. he was accused of using pepper spray on a group of folks leaving a nightclub. jones says his real name is benjamin fedor, he patrols downtown seattle, keeps the law in line. says he was just doing his job, trying to break up a

fight that night. >> i'm just like everyone else. the only difference is that i decided to make a difference and fight crime in my neighborhood, in my area. i intend to keep making that difference. the charges are false. the video shows that. bill: prosecutors have not decided whether or not they'll continue to charge him. superhero phoenix jones is live with megyn today at 1:00. martha: i like that video. i kind of like superhero phoenix jones! we'll see what they decide in court but i think you could do worse than a phoenix jones, is that his name, costume? as most moms know, if you can get all three kids into a costume, you're doing well. and a costume for me is probably not in the cards. bill: gotcha. we'll see whether or not he wears the mask at 1:00 today or whether he comes home. martha: looking forward to that. that's coming up on "america live". sy one of the world's most respected economists, a key adviser to president ronald reagan. listen to this. >> our current tax code is filled with all sorts of

awful bucks, chickens, pigs, turkeys in there and they've got to be cleaned out and we've got to completely revamp the code. martha: that's what you have to do, see? get rid of all the ducks, chickens, turkeys and pigs. that's what art laffer thinks. what does he think about 999? we'll talk about that. bill: police had no idea what they were dealing with when they approached this vehicle and one deputy was no match for a professional fighter.

martha: a pretty decent boost of support for herman cain's 999 tax plan. house budget committee chair paul ryan, who is very well respected on these issues, came out and called it a bold idea, he says he loves having specific and credible plans and just last night, former reagan economist art laffer made his support applicable. watch this: >> got a -- a lot of the

candidates have very good plans for tax reform but i love the 999 plan, i think it's a great first step. it's a lot better than our current tax code. our current tax code as you know is filled with all sorts of awful bucks, chickens, pigs, turkeys in there and they've just got to be cleaned out and we've got to completely revamp the code. martha: i love that, clean out the ducks and chickens and pigs and turkey. welcome to a nonturkey stephen hayes of the weekly standard and fox news contributor. how significant is paul ryan -- and i thought it was interesting, if art laffer was a consultant on this, you wonder why herman cain wouldn't have said that when he was asked. it made it look like he didn't have adviser basketball you ahead laffer! >> yeah, one of the problems that her can cain has had in the rollout of this plan is the fact that he isn't disclosing who helped him come up with it other than rich lowry of cleveland and i think he would have done well to use art laffer if art laffer was

willing to acknowledge the fact that he talked to herman cain about putting this together but those are, as you point out, those are two pretty good names, well respected economic thinkers, and if they give an endorsement, a partial endorsement even, of the plan, i think that helps mer main cain. martha: do you think we're going to see paul ryan campaigning for herman cain or supporting him in any way , because people are clamoring for him to run, everybody loves how specific he is, well versed in all of this. >> no, i don't think he will. paul ryan is having something called the presidential trust for the rnc, and i think that will keep him from endorsing anybody in the primary. but just to have him say something about 999, say positive words about it i think gives a boost to herman cain and i think paul ryan is speaking to something that a lot of people have been speaking to in this particular election cycle at this particular time, when he says that this 999 plan is something bold and it's something that fits

these times. it's a concern for a lot of republican primary voters, one of the reasons they haven't run to mitt romney or accepted mitt romney in neighbor the numbers people expected is that they're looking for a boldness, they're looking for an energy, they're looking to do big things in a that mitt romney at least thus far is not doing. martha: that's the bottom line. i mean, there's a lot of flaws or potential flaws that you can see in a cain campaign, he doesn't have the organization or the money that some of these other folks have had along the way, he also has that inexperience in government, which, you know, some people may feel they got burned with the last time around in terms of going with somebody that felt good at the moment. but you know, there's that lack of someone's ability to stand up and say you know what, throw out the tax code, start over. that is not a sort of mainstream idea among these gop nominees. >> it's not. and look, i thought the most effective line that he had in the debate the other night was when he said these politicians are all telling you this can't be done. well i'm not a politics and

that's -- politics and that's why i'm making these arguments. he's really talking to a huge swath of the republican primary base and independent voters as well to say the politicians have handled this for years and years and years and that's why we are where we are. martha: steve hayes, much, always good to see you. >> thanks martha. martha: it's fassating -- fascinating. herman cain is going to be on with neil cavuto. i think that's where he announced his candidacy. he was the first nominee to do so. he will be there again today at 4:00 p.m. eastern. >> 999 at 4:44. gregg jarrett is coming up in ten minutes in the newsroom. gregg: we got the 911 on "happening now"! a packed show, the threat from iran on syria, details from the capitol hill, and the hearings on solyndra, the the coarchitect of herman cain's 999 plan will be joining us on "happening now", speaker boehner, president obama, very testy telephone call. we'll tell you about it. and a congressman who's

calling on the department of justice to investigate those new bank fees you kind of hate. as always, we want to hear from you. go to foxnews.com/happening now, click on the america's asking tab to weigh in, and bill, you got about 12 minutes away from your weekend. bill: a little bit. we're closing in on it. gregg: okay, buddy. bill: have a great one, okay? we'll watch at 11:00. thank you gregg, see you then. a former wrestling champ gets pulled over by police. that's what happened first. we'll show you what happened next. martha: plus, more on a massive drug bust in arizona, and why authorities believe this could help cripple the powerful cartel operating in america.

martha: one ohio cop gets a little more than he bargained for when he wakes up a wrestling star who was

asleep at the wheel. the deputy says he found 21-year-old josh nell passed out in the driver's seat, tapped him on the old shoulder, the former standout high school rep had a flash myung-bak to his days on the mat and allegedly freaked out, put the guy in a head lock, took him down and pummeled him on the ground. that's not how you're supposed to treat the police officer, sir. the injured officer was still able to whip out his taser and stop him. he's now charged with felony assault. oopsie and the old drunk driving charge, which may be why he needed a nap! bill: so he's an up and coming driver in indy's minor league and beat the odds to get there. nineteen-year-old michael jackson overcame a devastating accident that left him paralyzed since the age of 12. rick leventhal has this story. >> reporter: racing requires a lot of strength and quick reflections and intelligence and courage. as you'll see, michael johnson has all of that and more.

he's paralyzed from the waist down, but 19-year-old michael jan son is living his dream, driving and thriving in open wheel, open cockpit formula cars. >> life is too short to miss out on what do you. >> johnson has special hand controls to accelerate and shift and pushing in on the steering wheel to brake. he finished third overall in the series, and his mom couldn't be more proud. >> he never got depressed, never poor me, poor me, it's -- he's always had a wonderful attitude about this whole thing. >> johnson started racing motorcycles when he was just four years old. at 12, he held 14 national titles, but then suffered a horrific accident in a race, breaking his back and dozens of other bones. he underwent experimental stem cell surgery in 2007 and has regained feeling from his chest to his hips. he spends nine hours a week in therapy and says he will

walk again on his own. and he continues to learn on the track. next year he turns pro. his goal, competing in the indianpolis 500. >> does this take you away from your troubles? when you're out here racing? >> i think it does, yeah, takes me away from everything. when i'm winning races, i'm the happennest i can be. >> michael told me he actually considers himself lucky. he knows things could have been a lot worse and he hopes he can be an inspiration to others with physical challenges to live life to the fullest and not give up on your dreams. bill: seems like he's already been an inspiration. nice story. rick leventhal. martha: it's always incredible when someone like that sort of makes the rest of us feel -- you never want to feel sorry for yourself for anything stupid that happens to you because these folks are so inspiring and when his mother said he never had a down day, i know another person like that and he inspires me, too, so thank you for that story, rick leventhal. >> how about this from rick perry, the presidential

candidate unveiling his proposal to rescue the economy. he got criticized for saying i'll have it on friday. a is -- today is friday. we'll have the headlines.

martha: even as a frontrunner, heman cain can't shake his pizza past. watch: >> and former godfather pizza ceo her man cain, surging in the polls, many polls have him ahead of mitt romney. he hasn't said who he would choose as his running mate but according to his report he'd had several meetings with papa john! bill: well done. martha: funny. or maybe the burger king! bull bill maybe pizza for lunch today. what do you think? >> martha: that sounds like a good idea! it's friday. have a great weekend, everybody, we'll see you back here on monday. bill: have a great weekend, too, all right? see you monday. "happening now" starts right now. martha: bye bye