>> peter: thanks to dunkin' donuts. >> brian: look at those pumpkin scream doughnuts. we'll see you in the after the show show. >> gretchen: happy halloween! bill: well done! morning, everybody! there is breaking news on yet another energy company that received etaxpayer loan, and that company went belly up, it's called beacon power corporation, out of massachusetts, it received a $43 million loan guarantee last year, it filed for bankruptcy on sunday, this comes only two days after the white house ordered its own evaluation of all the loan programs that were run through the energy department. to date, the best known example is solyndra. that's a solar power company out of california that went out of business. it's breaking right now. more details on that as we get it this morning. in the meantime, october freezeout playing a mean trick on the northeast. thousands of students, well, maybe they're celebrateing in costumes today!

one of the earliest snow days in memory after a powerful previcinity storm slams the area and good morning, everybody. that is a -- man, it's not even november yet for crying out loud. i'm bill hemmer, martha works for megyn a bit later today, patti ann, welcome back to you. patti ann: thank you, great to be here, i'm patti ann brown, and from maine to new england, a major cleanup is underway, many still in the dark with no heat and no telling when it's going to come back. as of right now, 3 million people without power, a state of emergency declared in four states, and at least 12 deaths reported. bill: that storm's difficult aftermath will likely outlast the snow. here's a sample. >> it's a huge inconvenience, you can't cook, there's no heat, you can't see anything. >> they told me there's a station down in the area, so maybe 2700 people without power and they won't know until they assess it. >> are you frustrated? >> a little bit. bill: there were millions without power this weekend. david lee miller is live in

well milford, new jersey. what a scene it is there. david, what's the latest this morning there? >> reporter: well, let's start with this, bill. in total, west milford received 19 inches of snow over the weekend, that is the record for the state, but the entire state of new jersey has been affected by this storm, the governor said a short time ago that there are now some 1200 department of transportation crews on the road, trying to clear downed trees, trees like the one behind me you can see over my shoulder, this tree literally split in half. he said there are some 1000 utility crews also on the streets, trying now to restore power. let's bring up some of the latest statistics that underscore how many people have been affected here, and in the state of new jersey, we are now told about 300,000 people are without power. that number, down significantly from the 600,000 or so over the weekend. one of those affected was governor chris christie, he now has power. hundreds of thousands have had it restored. still many others are

waiting. also badly hit, the state of connecticut. eight hundred thousand people there without power. the governor for connecticut says this is the worst power crisis the state has ever experienced. he said that it far exceeds the number of outages during hurricane irene. also, badly hit, the state of massachusetts, some 621,000 people there, also without power. throughout the northeast a number of shutter -- shelters have been set up, in west milford, there's a shelter, some people there receiving temporary housing. bill: it's remarkable to think about this october 31st. i see a tree down behind you. why was the damage so extensive, david lee? >> >> reporter: you know, bill, by this time of year, we are told that the trees still have between 50 and 80 percent of their leaves, so what simply happened here is the snow landed on the leaves, the weight, too much for the trees, the limbs collapsed, and that caused many of these limbs to hit power lines, which led to

the power outages. one woman described the situation here as sounding like a world war, when the limbs collapsed around her home. listen now to some of the people who were affected: >> all of the sudden, we heard the trees in the back yard just falling and all the branches around just falling. it was really scary. >> as it -- it was if the world was ending and everything was slowly crashing down all around you. >> it was absolutely frightening. it reminded me of when people talked about being in hurricanes. >> reporter: an bill, you made a very good point early on. the cleanup operation is going to be relatively fast but the consequences of this storm are going to take months if not years to recover from. one other very disturbing statistic, in new york city's central park hs estimated that 1000 trees were damaged by this storm and may have to be removed and that's just central park alone. damage extends from maryland all the way up to vermont. bill: something else. david lee miller, thank you for that. on saturday here in the

northeast, it was coming from every direction. patti ann: oh yeah. bill: every hour of the day, and the rain went to snow and the snow went to sleet and you look at the calendar and think man, it's not supposed to be this way. patti ann: my son was saying is it christmas, i need to do my christmas list. not quite yet, but he's ready for it. bill: coming up on it. mel away, will you? patti ann: a live look at a panel discussion in washington, d.c. that's where herman cain is expected to speak any minute. this, after reports that the republican presidential candidate sexually harassed employees two decades ago or was accused of that. kelly wright, live in washington right now. kelly, how is the cain campaign responding to this story? >> reporter: penny -- patti ann, let's keep an eye on that panel discussion where herman cain is expected to seek with the aei. he might say something any moment. herman cain's spokesperson, j.d. gordon, told fox news' geraldo rizero there is

nothing to this, it is a smear campaign, these are thinly sourced allegations, end of the quote. the women that accused cain of inappropriate behavior when he served as ceo of the national restaurant association, from 1996-1999, the report quotes anonymous sores claiming the two women felt angry and uncomfortable with cain's behavior, which allegedly included sexually suggestive conversations. the women reportedly received five figure payout amounts after signing an agreement with the trade association barring them from discussing the matter, patti ann. >> so kelly, i understand we expect to hear from herman cain later today, he is scheduled to appear on fox. has he said anything so far personally? >> >> reporter: herman cain appeared on one of the sunday morning talk shows yesterday and after leaving the studios in d.c. he was repeatedly asked about the

acsayings. here's how he responded. >> in-- [inaudible question] >> it was a very inaudible -- it was very inaudible but he said i'm not going to talk about two people that you won't even tell me who they are. the campaign issued a statement saying since washington establishment critics haven't had much luck in attacking mr. cain's ideas to fix a bad economy and create jobs they are trying to attack him in any way we can. sadly we've seen this played out before, a prominent conservative, targeted by liberals, simply because they disagree with politics. mr. cain and all americans deserve better. back to you patti ann. patti ann: kelly wright, live in washington. bill: you referred to it, but we will hear from herman cain later on the fox news channel, he can here to talk about it on "happening now", that comes at 11:00 with jon and jen yarks so stick right here throughout the morning. patti ann: meanwhile, rick perry says he isn't worried,

herman cain and rit mitt romney may be leading in the polls but with a new plan of his own to reform taxes and cut spending, governor perry says he's confident he will emerge as the gop presidential candidate. here's the governor appearing on fox news sunday: >> i think as the people of iowa or new hampshire or south carolina or florida or any of these early states look at the plans -- and i think that's what they're just now doing. obviously, this race isn't settled at all. as they look and see who is it that's going to lay out a plan to get america working, when they look at what mitt is doing and nibbling around theem, when they look at what herman's plan does of creating two new sources of taxes, both a vat and sales tax, and they look at our plan that really will get america working -- >> patti ann: well, a new poll by the des moines register has herman cain in the lead with 23 percent of the vote, just one point above mitt romney. bill let's get to the nation's economy now. social security reaching a

dangerous tipping point, that program that once paid its own way through payroll taxes, and now sucking money out of the treasury. reports this year, social security when have a projected $46 billion to the nation's budget problems, and a year payroll tax holiday could require an additional $105 billion of funding. if the payroll tax is expanded next year as the president has po possessed, social security will need an extra $267 billion to pay the promised benefits. fox news' stuart varney on a monday morning, happy halloween, boo! we were all told that social security was okay. it was medicare and medicaid that was the issue. what's up? >> look, that quarter of a trillion dollars is an enormous number. as was said many times, bill, it's very difficult to wrap your arms around a quarter of a trillion dollars. added to the decifit, added to the debt, and messing up social security's huger finance, all in a two-year

period. let's backdrop a little. we've got less money going into social security, because fewer people are working, fewer people are paying social security taxes. we've got more money coming out of social security, because people are retiring earlier, the baby boomers are retiring, and you've got these payroll tax holidays. one for this year is in place, one for next year has been proposed. result? a quarter of a trillion dollars, taken out of reduced from social security in a two-year period. that means that the point at which we totally run out of money is getting much, much closer, and it means that the political sell for president obama, to sell an extension to the payroll tax is now politically more difficult and economically difficult, too. bill bell this is a direct reflection of the economy, because what you're saying is the taxes in washington is what is hurting the program and a lot of the tax money has been baked into the idea of keeping social security solvent. is the supercommittee dealing with all of this, do

you know? >> i don't believe they are. i do not think they are. this extension of the payroll tax holiday is part of the president's jobs bill and is going to be voted on in the senate fairly soon. harry reid linked the democrats and the president, they want an extension, that would mean another $105 billion in one year, taken out of social security. bill: just to quote here, somebody was picked up, talking within the some committee -- supercommittee saying it rarely came up in these closed deliberations so they were focusing on the elephants in the room. >> it's the third rail of economy, touching social security. europe reformed with bankruptcy. will we? >> bill: wow. see you at 920 time, okay, stuart, on a halloween! on fbn. patti, what's coming up next? patti ann: those are a few of the stories we're following on "america's newsroom". coming up, new signs the obama administration may be distancing itself from the solyndra scandal, this as we get new reports a second energy company that got

loans filed for bankruptcy. we'll have a member of the house energy and commerce committee, joining us live up ahead. bill: that will be an interesting interview. also we mentioned this, that supercommittee has just weeks to reach a debt deal. will they be able to tackle the soaring debt crisis? new "rasmussen poll" numbers on what you think at home. patti ann: and nightmare on the tarmac, jetblue passengers stuck on a flight for seven hours, how could this happen again? coming up, we're going to hear the pilot's desperate attempts to get some help. >> we can't seem to get any help from our own company. i apologize for this. but is there any way you can get a tug and tow bar out here to us and get us towed to a gate or something, i don't care, take us anywhere. toothpaste is the wrong thing to use on a denture,

it could be very abrasive. if the surface gets abraded, it's just the environment that bacteria likes to nestle into and they can cause the odor. your denture needs to be cleaned gently on a daily basis. i like to recommend polident, it kills the bacteria without causing any abrasion. when my patients follow my instructions,

their dentures feel clean and fresh. they look forward to putting them in their mouth and smiling. you booked our room right? not yet, thanks for reminding me. wait, what? i have the hotels.com app so we can get a great deal even at the last minute. ah, well played sir. get the app. hotels.com. bill: swre brand new polling numbers now out of iowa that show herman cain and mitt romney leading the pack in that state. new presidential poll by the demoines register show the two in a dead heat, cain at

23 -- romney at 22, this just a little more than two months before iowa holds the first presidential caucus the third of january. cain says his unconventional presidential campaign strategy seems to do the trick. >> for those that criticize our strategy, i only ask them to look at the performance we have in the polls. we're not running a traditional campaign strategy. and they don't know what our nontraditional strategy is. so for them to make those criticisms, so be it. but it doesn't cause us to change our strategy. bill at the moment now, at the american enterprise institute in washington, d.c., there is herman cain, after a weekend of headlines that points at allegations of inappropriate behavior on his behalf going back to the 1990s. karl rove is on deck, but i want to drop it here and see if cain references that: >> you don't develop a half

solution, you don't develop a faith solution. you develop the solutions to the problem, therein lies the difference between a businessman and a politician let me use the example of godfathers. when i went to godfather godfats pizza, its parent, pillsbury, had already decided that godfather's was going to go bankrupt. but i didn't get the memo. i didn't know it was supposed to go bankrupt. so i did what i have always done and what i would also do as president. i went and talked to the people closest to the problem. i talked to customers, people working in the restaurants, managers, franchisees, suppliers, and they all gave me the same message, although it was in different words, which was godfather's biggest problem was lack of focus.

it was trying to do too much, too fast with too little. i got it from the people closest to the problem. and so we put together our strategy based on eliminating three of the 4cru -- crusts that they were trying to sell. that helped us to improve operations day to day. it made it easier for the people working in the restaurant to consistently provide the product. and we hammered on that strategy. so we simplified. maybe the simplification principle is what helped lead to 99 # -- 99. so we simplified the operation dramatically, what helped us. secondly, when we did introduce a new product because we had sagging sales, we needed to give customers and new customers a reason to come back to godfather's. they had left us. so we developed a new product called big value. because in addition to being

the quality alternative in the segment, we knew that we needed a value proposition to attract some of the people, but we didn't want to damage our quality image in order to get everybody converted over. bill: herman cain talking about business decisions he made as ceo of godfather's pizza. we were curious to know whether had he asked about or address the allegations of inappropriate behavior in the 199 os. want to bring in fox news contributor karl rove, former deputy chief of staff to jorks wrnlg burke and fox news contributor. we want to talk about the poll numbers in iowa, because i think they tell an interesting story. what do you make of the firestorm that developed over the weekend around herman cain? >> well, he's not denying, but he ain't responding and that's not the best place to be. if these allegations are not true, say they aren't true, and put it behind you. if not, better get everything out sooner rather than later because in a situation like this, if there is something there,

that something is going to come out. bill: was the statement from his campaign sufficient? i take it based on your answer, you don't think it was. >> no, i think geraldo had it right last night, you simply can't say go talk to the national restaurant association and refuse to answer the question were there any monetary settlements involved in these things, you simply can't say go talk to someone else, you need to say yes or no and if no, say no immediately, say absolutely not and get on with it. but if you're sitting there saying go talk to somebody else, it's not going to help you. bill: two things on this. we'll see if the topic comes up at this event in washington. it will certainly come up in the interview on "happening now" later on fox. karl, stand by a moment in austin because i want to talk about what's happening out of iowa and there's a lot to talk about that. what's happening in austin. patti ann: the president's top advisers are rushing to his defense, touting the white house efforts to get our economy back on track and claiming the gop candidates don't have what it takes. republicans, begging to

differ. >> the economy is in trouble. and you know that. this president points out that he did not cause the recession, and he's right. but he made the downturn worse. and made the recovery last longer than it should have. [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8.

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bill: at 24 minutes past the hour, want to let you know we're monitoring this event down there. it seems like a question and answer session with herman cain and if something comes up that's relevant to the allegations over the weekend, we'll bring it to you. in the meantime want to bring back karl rove to get reaction to what the demoines register reported over the week yen and how the republican candidates are faring. good morning to you again, in austin. herman cain is at 23 percent, mitt romney is at 22 percent, i don't know if either man has spent that

much time in iowa. what would explain that? >> well, romney was there, obviously, four years ago, and built an organization, and herman cain was there much earlier in the year before he got the prominence he's had in recent months but you're right, neither one of them has spent much time in the state and both face a big decision which is are they going to start spending thriem and start spending political capital. inside the poll, it's sort of interesting, if you take a look, herman cain, these numbers are better for cain than they are for romney. cain leads among men, most conservative voters tea party supporter, born again christians, those aged 35-54, and those that say they're going to definitely vote in the caucus. romney leads among women, seniors, which is a good group, first timer, and those who have their minds made up. but you know, let's keep this all in perspective. what matters now is how much time you spend there, four years ago at this time, mitt led with 29 percent, followed by fred thompson

with 18, mike huckabee with 12, rudy giuliani with 11. by election day it was huckabee at 34, mitt romney at 25, huckabee spent virtually many of the days between now and january 3rd, he spent in the state, as did mitt, rudy giuliani and fred thompson didn't spend as many and fell right down to the bottom. bill: it breaks -- it breaks late and can again this year, too. a nine -- 59 percent in the sur say -- survey say they could support someone else! what does that mean. >> what's even more extraordinary than that, you add in the people who haven't made up their mind, 74 percent say they could change their opinion or haven't made up their mind, 25 percent say their mind is made up. and that shows how flexible and fluid the situation is going to be. every day matters. i want you to think about this. there are essentially 64 days as of tomorrow left

before an iowa caucus is, on the third of january. remember, we got thanksgiving which is going to take five or six days out of that, we have christmas which is going it take five or six days out of that and new year's which is day to take a day, day and a half or two, so you actually have about 50 days that you have to campaign, raise money, and you know, the question is how do you divide that time. bill: that support is built on quick sand at the moment. karl, thank you, good to have you back on out of austin today. we'll talk soon. karl rove. patti ann: new reports in that an energy company that received millions in government loans has filed for bankruptcy. that coming up. also, consideringman morgan griffith is a member of the house energy and commerce committee, he's going to join us with the very latest developments on this breaking story and on solyndra, of course. it is an airline passenger's worst nightmare and it's happened again. passengers on four different planes, trapped on the tarmac for seven hours.

a pilot, offering some choice words over the radio as investigators try to figure out why this keeps happening. >> do you need any paramedics or anything like that? >> no, we've got the fire truck over here and i guess they have some medical background here. i am y medicare part b.

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bill: this morning, we have new details about what happened on board four different planes, three of which belonged to jetblue, that left passengers strand on a tarmac for more than seven hours. a plane diverted from florida to newark forced to land at connecticut's bradley international, that's north of hartford, because of this freak winter storm, and it's not winter, it's fall! passengers say they had no food and no water and no working bathrooms and even the pilot expressed his dismay at his employer. >> we can't seem to get any help from our own company. i apologize for this, but is there any way you can get a tug and tow bar out here to us and get us towed somewhere to a gate or something? i don't care. take us anywhere. >> jetblue 504, roger, i will talk to operations and see what they can do. were you able to resolve the situation in the back or is that ongoing? >> we've resolved it for now. we've got the show of

authorities on board but i with a paraplegic that needs to come off, i have a diabetic that's got an issue it's a list of things. i just got to get some help. >> roger. do you need any paramedics or anything like that? >> no, we've got the fire truck over here and i guess they have medical background. i'm not sure who the players are in the back end but it looks like they've got it covered. my priority right now is a tug and tow bar. you just give me a welding shop, i'll be will to go make one myself. we're out of laud, 1407-z and we got on the ground at 1724z, and we've been here now for 7 1/2 hours, 7 1/2 hours, plus the three hours of flight time or whatever that was. bill: wow. at least that pilot is fighting for his passengers on board and eric shawn has more on the fallout. >> bill, what we hear about this -- while we hear about this frequently it's not

supposed to happen but obviously it did yet again. passengers were held on board as conditions deteriorated. that was jetblue 504, going to hartford, one that was stuck for seven hours at the bradley international airport. passengers as you heard, they say they ran out of food, water, didn't even have working bathrooms and could not get to a gate to even get off the plane. >> we cannot go to the bathroom anymore, there's no running water, there are children, handicapped people. you know, there's -- everybody is getting very on edge. >> it's ridiculous, this airport -- i mean, this airport is just leaving us here and not doing anything about it. >> >> reporter: after flying into there, the pilot landed at 1:30 in the afternoon, that plane, bill, did not move until 9:00 on saturday night. bill: are there consequences for the airline? because the law has changed, hasn't it? >> >> reporter: because of the accidents -- incidents in the last couple of years,

the government limits delays to three hours for domestic flights, four hours during international flights, the pilot was so frustrated he even called for the cops. >> i got a problem here on the airplane. i'm going to have to need to have the cops on board. there's a cop car sitting here, right now, i need air stairs -- stairs brought over here and the cops brought on the airplane. >> >> reporter: jetblue says the airport experienced intermittent outages which made de planing difficult, we apologize to the customers impacted by this confluence of events, it remains jetblue's responsibility to simply -- to provide travel but a comfortable experience as well. jetblue could be fined 25,000, $500 passengers for each of the 100 passengers on board that one flight alone, so we're talking about $270,000 or more, bill. bill: one was international. sometimes they have different rules. but still, 7 1/2 hours, man. eric shawn, thank you

for that. this is not the first time, it will likely not be the last, unfortunately. february of 2007, jetblue passengers, stranded for almost 11 hours. hundreds of jetblue passengers at kennedy airport, trapped on # separate planes. empty jets were frozen to the ground, blocking the gates to inbound flights. next hour, what you can do. patti ann: new reports that a massachusetts energy company that received millions of dollars in government loans has filed for bankruptcy. beacon power corporation got $43 million, and this development comes just two days after the white house ordered an independent investigation into the department of energy's loan program. well, joining us right now is congressman morgan griffith, he is a member of the house energy and commerce committee which is already investigating a loan to a different energy company that went bankrupt. thank you for joining us, congressman. >> glad to be with you this morning. patti ann: so your committee was already investigating

seoul rained and just yesterday we hear a separate company received this $43 million loan guarantee and went bankrupt, beacon power got the loan to help build an energy storage plant in upstate new york, that plant started operating in january. the loan was provided by the treasury department's federal financing bank. is this from the same fund that the seoul rained loan came from? >> yes, ma'am, it is. and we're very, very concerned about this and many other loans that have been made by the department of energy over the last several years. but particularly, the last two days, the program was alive, they lent out an additional nearly $5 billion in new loans. so we're very concerned about what they were doing and why they were doing it. patti ann: so the obama administration gave 28 of these loan guarantees to green companies, and as we mentioned, the white house last week ordered a review of all of those loans made by the energy department. are you expecting to uncover problems with some of the other 26, as well? >> we're certainly afraid that we will.

we hope that we won't. but it looks like there's a lot of concern over several of these loans. we've already heard news reports on two or three others that may be in trouble. so we're very concerned, and of course, we're paying close attention to what's going on with solyndra as well. but we're also concerned about loans going out as time goes by. patti ann: so there were two things going on. there's the white house review that was just announced late last week, and then there's the investigation being done by your house committee. at that committee hearing, the energy department's secretary, stephen chu, is now set to testify on november 17th. now, the doe is reluctant to allow an official to testify. what has changed? >> well, i think it's just that the concern is building up. it clearly was in violation of the law, when you read the code, it's very clear the subordination part was illegal, in my opinion, and many others' opinions who have looked at it. we want to find out why they did something that was clearly in violation of the law, in that $75 million

that they subordinated last february, and then why would you lend out so much money when the technology, according to mr. silvers who testified in front of the committee earlier, the technology, while very good, was so much more expensive than what was already available on the market, and then ultimately, they got caught by that, just kind of like for those of us who are older, bet yeah and vhs. >> some republicans are saying that the fact that the white house has now announced that they're going to have an independent review of the department of energy and its loan guarantee system is an indication that the white house is trying to distance itself from this scandal by letting the department of energy take the fall. would you agree with that? >> well, it certainly looks like they want the department of energy to take the fall. but one of the things we've already discovered in some of the empty males is that there were a lot of white house figures who were encouraging doe to go ahead and make the seoul rained loan and we want to see what they were doing on that loan in particular and who was putting pressure on whom and

why, particularly last year, the subordination was allowed in violation of the law. patti ann: we've got some democrats now saying why are we only looking at the department of energy's loans to these green companies, such as seoul i saidra, why aren't we looking at the department of energy's loans to nuclear companies and other companies that the democrats say have gottengen more -- even more sizeable loans. >> i think we should take a look at all of them. the see is that there are good prospects out there. did the doe find the right prospects to receive this federal money and were they looking at it from the standpoint of making a statement on green energy, or were they just trying to get the money out the door, and it's hard to tell but it looks like there was a rush to get green energy jobs no matter the cost to the american taxpayer. if they can cite us some company that's in trouble what's that's got financial issues that's filed bankruptcy in the other areas, we ought to investigate those as well. patti ann: congressman morgan griffith of the house

energy and commerce committee, thank you for joining gliews thank you very much. bill: watching the market, she gives and takes, right? we were up last week and now we're down 137, ten minutes into trading on a monday. the economy, front and center for the race for the white house, but could one party be hurting the country's progress on behalf of political gain? a terrific panel on that coming up in moments. patti ann: an attack by a great white. we'll tell you where the vicious attack happened. >> it came, and i came over the top of the waves and he just started yelling shark, just started yelling shark, shark, shark. [ technician ] are you busy? management jt sent over these new technical manuals. they need you to translate them into portuguese. by tomorrow. [ male announcer ] ducati knows it's better for xerox to manage their global publications. so they can focus on building amazinbikes.

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patti ann: the latest polls show herman cain leading in iowa but michelle bach smawn hoping for a big boost from the hawkeye state, the iowa caucuses are scheduled for january 3rd. at a campaign stop there this weekend bachmann made it clear she intends to come out on top regardless of the

current polls. >> it is your turn to weigh in on barack obama. so i'm asking you, january 3rd, you come out, you bring 15, 20 other people, and iowa, you will singlehandedly take this country back, and i'm asking you to come out and caucus for me on that day, because we will help you do it, we'll get the country on track. pat the winner of the iowa caucus often goes on to win the nomination. for the very latest on the election, you can log on to foxnews.com and click on america's election headquarters tab and find out all you need to know about the race for 2012 there. bill: the highly publicized rise in bank fees has whipped up serious anger, but creditors are winning, getting a flood you new work. jonathan serrie is live on this. why is this happen something good morning. >> reporter: hi bill. in recent weeks several major banks have announced a

new monthly debit card fee, that is enraging many consumers who had grown accustomed to using these debit cards without paying any fees. >> we have encouraged everyone to get debit cards, they want you to have a debit card, they want you to use the debit card and now all of the sudden, you're having to pay to have the privilege to have it. >> reporter: that was bradley cortol, who is closing accounts at two major banks and switching to charlotte credit union which reports a 350 percent increase in new account registrations online since the major banks introduced debit card fees. the national association of federal credit unions reports activity on its website, cu lookup.com, has tripled, bill. bill: wow. what's the impact on the banks? >> well, already banks are taking action. chase and wells fargo have announced they are ending pilot programs that were charging customers in certain test markets, a monthly debit card fee of $3. there are reports that bank

of america which plans to charge a $5 fee next year will make it easier for customers to avoid the charge by maintaining minimum balances or signing up for additional financial services. the banks are trying to make up for losses due to a federal cap on what they can charge merchant phos each debit card transaction, the ceo of wells fargo explains it costs large banks a lot of money to maintain the vast atm networks and services that their customers expect from them. >> there have been studdies done by the federal reserve and others that would suggest a checking account costs between 2-$300 a year to monitor, to begin, to operate. the reality is we were all paying big fees before. retailers were charging a little bit more for every box of pasta that you bought to help cover some of these exchange fees. >> reporter: emory business professor ryan hamilton explains that there is a much stronger psychological impact for consumers when they see that fee printed on their bill,

than when it's hidden in the cost of goods or services. bill: jonathan, thank you for that. jonathan serrie is live on that from atlanta. herman cain is live in washington. we're keeping an eye on his question and answer session, we'll see whether or not the allegations that surfaced over the weekend come up during this. we will stay right there and be back with this: [ male annouer ] juice drink too watery? ♪ feel the power my young friend. mmm! [ male announcer ] for unsurpassed fru and veggie nutrition... v8 v-fusion. could've had a v8. fiber one. h, forgot jack cereal. [ jack ] what's for breakfast? um... try the number one! [ jack ] yeah, ts is pretty good. [ male announcer ]alf a day's worth of fiber. fiber one.

bill: right now, blasting the gflt op, accusing republicans of trying to destroy the economy on purpose! top senior adviser david axelrod saying the president is doing the best he can. listen here: >> we need to do things that will recover from the recession and create jobs in the short run and rebuild the economic security of the middle class that's lost in

the long rawnd the other side will offer their ideas. theirs seems to be to go back to what we were doing before the crisis. i think we're going to have a great debate and the american people will decide where their interests lie and who represents them. bill we had a great debate lined up, kirsten powers, good morning, and karen hen receipty is in the wings but apparently -- henretty is where apparently the power is down. >> i'm the only place with power right now! bill: we have no idea what rolled through here on saturday and sunday! anyway, good morning to you. >> good morning. bill: so on purpose? >> well, i think that that is the view of a lot of democrats, is that if you look at what the president proposed in his jobs plan, that there wasn't a lot there that was particularly controversial, and a lot of the stuff was the kind of stuff that republicans used to support. so you know, what's wrong with the payroll tax cut, what's wrong with infrastructure spending. you know, it was a pretty -- the president really did seem to try to put things in

there that everybody should be able to agree on. bill: so he's going to blame the other side and just for the sake of this discussion here, i'll take the other side. >> okay. bill will -- bill: what about the forgotten 15rbgs the 15 bills that came out of the house that have been sitting in the senate and republicans like john boehner would say the senate is just sitting on their hands? >> well, i don't think that there are things that people can agree on. look, as far as i can tell, everything that i see that comes out of the republican side is tax cuts and deregulation. and you can correct me if there's something else. and the president has been pretty clear that, you know, where he wants to have the tax cuts and where he wants to raise taxes and where he wants to raise taxes is on the very wealthy, and so there's going to have to be some sort of coming together, and i think the white house would probably be willing to deal on that, but they're not just going to sign up for a bill that's just, you know, deregulation, which frankly i don't really even understand how anybody can

even bring that up. bill: they're going to roll this again and again. by the way, halloween is full of surprises! and i just want you to know that karen henretty is now ready. we plugged everything into the wall, she's the former nrcc communications director and karen, good morning to you. >> good morning! bill: thank you for joining our discussion here. >> sure. bill: i think the point in this and a bigger picture is that the white house has the bigger mega phone. and i don't know how much the american people listen to the message out of the house when they say we passed 15 different jobs bills, because they don't make headlines, karen. >> well, i don't think that the american people are giving any credit to congress or the white house. i mean, if you look at the polls, there's an all-time low of confidence in what government is doing, and that's right, the president does have the bully pulpit right now, and the question is what is he doing with that bully pulpit and what is he doing with his ability to do something that could actually impact the terrible unemployment numbers in

america. i'll tell you right now that bailing out college loans is not going to create jobs and another bailout of mortgage social security not going to create jobs. but let's talk about regulations. if you ask businesses which the gallup poll did last week, they asked small businesses what are the biggest problems that you face right now, and the number one problem they said is regulation. bill: and they're not sure of the future, also. but karen, this whole idea about blame congress, does that work in 2012? >> no. i think once the president has an opponent, he needs an opponent, right? every political candidate needs a boogyman, so right now, bg is -- congress is the president's boogyman he's running against because he doesn't have a gop nominee to run against in the general election. and so this narrative will soon change. but the president doesn't have a lot of positives that he can talk about right now, his poll numbers are falling, there's not a lot he can tell the country he's doing for them.

so i think that it's pretty natural and it happens on both sides of the aisle. you know, he's just in attack mode. bill: quickly, i've got to run here. does it work when you blame the other side now, kirsten? >> who knows. i mean, i don't think you have a lot of other alternatives here, but i also think it has the benefit of being true. he had a great jobs bill, there's no reason that they shouldn't support it, you know, even economists have given it high ratings, and -- >> bill: the jury is out, from both of you, the jury is out. come on back next time, okay? kirsten, karen, nice hustle down there! appreciate it. >> patti ann: herman cain is speaking and he was just asked about the allegations against him and we are going to bring you his answer, right after the break. >> bill: also in a moment, gaining momentum after a slow start. which candidate is now picking up in the recent polls?

bill: here we go on a fox news alert. if you're following the headlines breaking around herman cain. over the weekend broke about reports of sexual harrassment in the 1990s. screen left is herman cain live in event in washington, d.c. moments ago he was asked about the reports. here is how he is responded. >> as you well aware there is big cloud affecting your ability to get this out, the story in "politico". i wonder if you can clear it up for us right now. that you -- >> i think that question, that question has been consistent with the ground rules. >> somebody accused you of inappropriate behavior. one final statement. >> he is will be at the -- >> i'm going by the ground rules my hosts have set. bill: all right. now piece that together for you. of off-camara, jonathan karl a political reporter with

abc. appeared the moderator jumped in there prevented herman cain from answering that question with an event with aei, that is american enterprise institute. talk about his economy, his economic plan rather and herman cain's history as ceo of godfather's pizza. herm man cain will be asked about this yet again. because he is our guest on the fox news channel in one hour here. you will see that live on "happening now.". meantime now slow and steady wins the race, right? words to live by for former speak of the house, newt gingrich, calling himself the tortoise from the tortoise and the hare keep moving along in a steady pace. a few weeks after his campaign was left for dead he might be gaining here on the leaderboard. brand new hour for "america's newsroom." welcome, patti ann. patti ann: good to see you. happy halloween. a lot to cover.

overflow crowd more than 400 people packing into a fast-food shop in suburban south carolina to see, newt gingrich. the latest "fox news poll" show him gaining momentum as others fizzle out. running third in the battle for the gop nod. >> the tortoise campaign. we've seen several rabbits run by and fall asleep. we just want to keep moving. >> shannon bream is live in washington. shannon, hi, how are you numbers stacking up for newt gingrich? >> reporter: let's look at some of the fox polling last few months when potential gop voters were asked who would you like to see get the nomination? if you look back into july this year, newt was coming into 9%. september he shot up to 11%. in our most recent polling, october 23rd through 25th, he is 12%. he is in double digits. he is gaining ground slowly and steadily. as you mentioned this is his overall strategy. interesting set of numbers.

look at favorables versus unfavorables we've seen the same slow steady climb from july through august of this year. he has favorable numbers going up. his unfavorables slowingly coming down. his camp is happy about those numbers, patti ann. patti ann: shannon, what is the strategy for newt gingrich moving forward? >> reporter: he wants to keep getting his ideas how. he wants to keep chipping away. people are getting his message. they are listening to what he is saying. he made a lot of ground in the debates. he has taken control of the stage but he knows it will take more than just his ideas to win. here is more what he had to say this weekend in south carolina. >> i need your help. i don't have, this is not, i don't have the kind of money that my major competitors have but i think i can have vastly more people than they're going to have. with your help i also believe i'm the only candidate who is capable of fundamentally disrupting and replacing the left in

washington, d.c.. >> reporter: disrupting and replacing. that is what he hopes he will get the chance to do, patti ann. patti ann: he seems hesitant to criticize his direct competitors. why is that? >> reporter: it is interesting. in most of the debates he wants to go directly after president obama. he doesn't do a lot of criticizing of romney or perry or cain. some of the other front-runners. he may talk about their ideas. in general he is seems a pretty positive guy when it comes to the gop field. that seems to resonate to a lot of voters. quick infighting. don't damage the potential nominee whoever he or she might be. focus on president obama. that seems to be gingrich's strategy moving forward. patti ann: shannon bream. live in washington. thank you. a look at the gingrich campaign. one of the first candidates to declare. he raised $3 million. he proposed a new contract with america. detailing his plans for the white house were to win. taking a page out of his 199

campaign. that is how republicans took back control of congress for the first time in 40 years. bill: at least five more debates for the governor of texas. rick perry's campaign agreeing to a handful of political sparring matches before the first primary in january and the first caucus, a few days after saying he would skip several of these debates. >> when you take a look at the debates i readily admit i'm not the best debater in the world. with as many debates got coming up i may end up being a pretty good debater when all said and done. when they look at the record, what we've done, nobody has been stronger on immigration than i have. take the issue wornt governors have to deal with tough and hard issues because the federal government failed securing that border. bill: that is the governor on "fox news sunday" morning. brit hume is here. he dropped that line a lot

last few days. we had ray sullivan, spokesman for the perry team on friday, these reports were out there, brit and he would not deny they were considering skipping all. dedates or many of them after the one coming up on november 9th. on saturday they turn right around and go in a different direction. what do you think. >> i think he was considering it and apparently considered it and decided not to do that. look, these debates are frequently, typically coast sponsored by one of the state republican parties. so if you're going to say no to the state's republican party in whose primary or whose caucuses you're a candidate you can pretty well guess that won't go over very well and it is a mistake to do that. i don't think he has a lot of chance. i think he has to show up. he is trying to knock down expectations saying he isn't a great debater. unfortunately for him he knocked them down after his performances already knocked him down. so i'm not sure, i'm not sure that really helps him

very much. he has a high hill to climb. bill: maybe goes back to the humor tilt for that. the impression you're running away from something. >> that doesn't work. bill: right. >> what is interesting about this election cycle so far is that the debates have been about all there's been to the campaign. what that has done it kept a lot of the poorly-funded candidates in the race because you need nothing more than a plane ticket and hotel room to take part in a debate. get the same billing and same footing really as the front-runners, same stage. so you, you know, you can keep going indefinitely as long as there is debate about every week. you do reach the point however, when people start voting and you need organization to reach out to them in the states you need to put ads up on the air and need to turn your vote us out at the polls. that is different test. bill: in your van driving all 99 counties in the state of iowa. >> there you go. bill: i want to ask you what is quickly developing the political story of the day

around herman cain. we played this clip eight minutes ago. i will get you to react to see how he is handling so far. >> as you're well aware there is big cloud affecting your ability to get this out which is the story in "politico". i wonder if you can clear it up for us right now. that you -- >> i think that question is kind, that question is inconsistent with the ground rules that we have. >> somebody accused you of inappropriate behave are i don't. one final statement. >> i really, he will be at the press club today. >> i'm going with the ground rules my hosts have set. bill: now apparently there were ground rules about the economy and his history as ceo of godfather's pizza. how is he handling this? how is his team doing this? >> at this point there is not much evidence his team prepared for this. he had to know the potential for this to come to the surface has been out there a while. doesn't appear there has been a plan in place. look, this may blow over but

this kind of thing never helps, questioner was jonathan karl of "abc news" noted when something like this is out there and dominating headlines and conversations like the one we're having right now, what herman cain is having to say to the american enterprise institute for example about his economic plan or his stewardship at godfather's pizza is not going to get heard. what he says is or doesn't say will be heard by the allegation by some women that he made them uncomfortable. you got to remember these algations of this kind are murky and apparently these women are bound about the deal they made when they left not to talk about it. i'm not sure how much we'll ever learn about this. bill: sometimes the rumor is worse than the truth. we're about to find out. he will talk with us in about an hour. he will be live on "happening now". we'll see whether he addresses it or side steps. that is forthcoming in 60 minutes, brit. we'll be watching then. >> we sure will.

you bet. bill: thanks, brit. patti ann: missouri police now say they have exhausted more than 900 leads in their search for lisa irwin, the now 11-month-old girl that vanished nearly a month ago. mike tobin joins us from chicago with the very latest on this case. hi, mike. >> reporter: hi, patti ann. the developments have less to do with the search for babely lisa and everything to do with the meltdown for the lawyers. the one kansas city attorney who worked for the family for nine days willhold a press conference today. presumes what she is going to say, despite she no longers works for the parents she will pursue facts in the case. the rift between her and high-profile new york attorney, joe tacopina went public. to allow representatives of police to interview the older siblings of baby lisa. after this went public, short released a statement that joe tacopina had no

clout to fire her from this case. i contacted joe tacopina, in light of the fact that short issued a brief press release saying she was leaving the team. i contacted joe tacopina, he is not commenting on the case anymore other than to say he hired a new local attorney and won't release the name, patti ann. patti ann: mike tobin reporting live for us, thank you. bill: we were talking about the herman cain matter is wrapped up and there is another question about this you will hear that at the moment. day at the mall turns to terror. heavily armed gunmen clashing with police. the gunbattle that sent shoppers running for their lives. not cool. patti ann: the so-called super-committee has the three weeks left to come up with a plan to cut $1.2 trillion in federal spending. we'll show you the latest poll on how many americans think they can get there. bill: this is october. seven hours on the tarmac. limited food and water. bathrooms weren't working.

flight-mare some folks will not forget. director of the national transportation safety board on what the heck happened on board. >> it is ridiculous. this airport, this airport is just leaving us here and not doing anything about it. >> bathrooms are locked. people are quite upset. someone else called the state police.

bill: it is the hottest political story of the morning and herman cain addressed these allegations kind of sort of, about sexual harrassment claims dating back to the 1990s. he was at an event moments ago in washington, d.c. that event we believe wrapped up. here is how herman cain concluded on the topic. >> yes i am unconventional candidate and i have a sense of humor and some people have a problem with that to quote my chief of staff and all the people i talked to around this country, herman, be herman.

herman will stay herman. thank you very much. bill: that was that. he said he is the at national press club later today. that begins around 1:30 in washington. he says i will take all your arrows. next hour he will take arrows presumably from jon scott and jenna lee at 11:00 a.m. on "happening now.". herman cain is their guest. stay tuned for that when this topic comes up again. 16 minutes after the hour. >> again it is serious work that the committee is doing. it in of itself is not going to solve the debt crisis but i hope we can take at least a few steps down the road of fiscal sustainability. patti ann: that was congressional super-committee co-chair jeb hensarling talking with "america's newsroom" last week on tackling the america's red ink. a little over three weeks remain for that committee to creech reach agreement on over a trillion collars in budget cuts. if they don't they risk triggering steep cuts to defense and spending programs.

but the public's expectations for a deal apparently are not very high. a new "rasmussen poll" finds only 19% actually think this super-committee which is split evenly between republicans and democrats, will reach a deal. scott rasmussen of rasmussen reports joins us now. thanks for being with us. >> happy to be with you, patti ann. patti ann: if it doesn't as we mentioned, there's an automatic trigger for steep cuts in certain areas. >> well, but they trigger doesn't take effect until 2013. so that gives congress plenty of time to change their mind on that as well. the real story of this poll is skepticism and cynicism. if a deal is reached, and if they somehow came up with a plan to raise taxes on the wealthy and cut spending, three out of four americans, 72% say they think middle class taxes will go up as well. so they're not buying this argument that they're hearing. in fact, and patti ann, i

can't begin to overemphasize the cynicism. most americans say they don't expect the president or congressional republicans to put forth a serious plan before election 2012. and most say if a deal is reached, it will raise taxes too much and cut spending too little. patti ann: that leads to the next question. you asked folks what worries them the most that the government will cut spending too much or too little? and there's the results. 54% are worried that they're not going to cut enough to get the deficit under control. >> that's right. and by the way there's a partisan divide on this. most republicans, most unaffiliated voters say that the spending cuts will be too small a plur alty of democrats have the opposite concern. patti ann: the next one is, will congress and the president raise taxes too much or too little? let's look at those results. so 57% say the taxes are going up too much and the fear there of course, is that that is going to put a damper on economic growth.

>> that's right. that's one of the fears. and the other one is, 62% of americans say that if taxes are raised, they don't think congress will use it for deficit reduction. they think they will spend the money on something else. again a lot of skepticism in this polling. and one of the reasons is because americans have heard this before. they have heard all the talk of deficit reduction. all the talk of big deals yet somehow the deficit keeps getting bigger and the spending keeps going up. patti ann: the last one you mentioned already. the question of whether or not you believe that middle class taxes will be raised. 72% believe it is likely that taxes on the middle class will go up. >> that's right. and again, this is something that people, they wouldn't mind if taxes went up a little bit on the wealthy and partly because they think, people who earn more than them aren't paying their fair share. they also expect if congress gets around to doing that the definition who is wealthy will reach deep into the middle class.

that is just one of the concerns. most americans continue to believe that cutting spending, cutting deficits and cutting taxes are all good for the economy. and they fear that the political class is the heading in the opposite trex. patti ann: interesting. scott rasmussen, thank you for joining us with the very latest poll on the american folks. >> thank you, patti ann. bill: here is a mystery. an american flight attendant found dead in a hotel room in a popular tourist site. where this happened and how. maybe once in a generation you see a storm like this in october. holy moly, millions lost power. latest on the cleanup efforts just about every where. >> we're just trying to stay warm. huddle down and, you stay out of the cold. we're lucky to have a generator. a lot of people don't. >> huge inconvenience. you can't cook. there is no heat. you can't see anything

patti ann: 23 minutes past the hour. the case of john edwards reported sex tape is back in court. word his former mistress is suing a former staffer over the tape claiming he is in contempt of court. the staffer and his family say they are just following judge's orders. china delivering some harsh criticism after being acaused of hacking u.s. satellites. beijing denies the claims saying the committee accusing them had quote, ulterior motives. floods that killed nearly 400 may not be over. but seems the worst has passed in thailand. the prime minister saying that the highest tide is over. bill: our best for them. there is more deadly violence rocking the middle east this morning. israeli aircraft launching airstrikes in the southern part of the gaza strip. it is said that at least two palestinians are dead.

leland vittert live in our bureau in jerusalem. what happened, leland? >> reporter: bill, in the past couple minutes we had another rocket from the southern gaza strip land in israel that is breaking the cease-fire just a couple hours ago. it underscores just how delicate the balance of power is here between the hamas militants, islamic jihad insides the gas is strip and the israeli military. it was a very bloodly weekend here. one israeli died. 40 rockets flu from the gas is strip into southern israel. caused a whole lot of damage. big fires. a number about of burned out cars when the rockets hit. it also hit a couple of apartment buildings. 11 islamic militants killed inside the gaza strip. that is during the airstrikes the israel calls in normally after the rockets are launched. we got video of a new weapon system used in the gas is

strip. it was put out by the islam my jihad. a multiple rocket system mounted on back of a pickup truck. that is something else for the israeli military to begin tracking. this began a week ago. islamic jihad launching a missile into southern israel. the question is how long will this go before we end up with something like another gaza war. back to you. bill: developments as they come in. leland, thank you. patti ann. patti ann: might nair on the tarmac once again. hundreds of passengers on several planes spent hours stranded just outside of the terminal. how can this happen again? one pilot make as desperate plea. >> we can't seem to get any help from our own company. i apologize for this but is there any way you can get a tug and toe bar out to us and get us towed somewhere to a gate or something. i don't care. take us anywhere. [ male announcer ] are you considering a new medicare plan?

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we can help you choose the right plan for your needs. [ male announcer ] are you reconsidering your medicare coverage? you only have until december 7th to make sure you get the medicare coverage you need. call unitedhealthcare to learn about medicare plans that may be right for you. with some plans, you can enroll right over the phone. don't wait. call now. bill: some are calling it snowtober! a storm dropping up to 2 feet became a nightmare for hundreds of airline passengers, at least four planes, stranded for seven hours on the tarmac at bradley international, north of hartford, connecticut. look at that picture. several planes diverted because of a storm. appearance say they had no food and no water and no working bathrooms. one jetblue pilot, well, he

was pretty ticked off, too. >> so we're out of laud, 14o7z and we got on the ground at 1724-z, and we've been here now for 7 1/2 hours -- 7 1/2 hours plus the three hours of flight time or whatever that was. we've resolved it for now, we've got the show of authorities on board but i have a paraplegic on board that needs to come off, i have a diabetic on here that's got an these problems. i mean, once they're stuck,

it really is the airport's responsibility, and the airline's responsibility to deal with that plane. bill: peter, i'm sorry for the interruption. they changed the law toss prevent things like this because i think it was a jet flu flight four years ago in 2007 that was stranded forever and that really forced changes in the law. here's the image from february of that year. now, aren't the laws supposed to help in cases like these? >> well, there is a new law and it says that for domestic flights, you have to be allowed to de plane after three hours, for international flights, four hours, or else, there can be hefty fines, over $25,000 per passenger, per incident, and frankly, jetblue in 2007 went through a huge public relations campaign. bill: sure did. >> apologizing, saying this was not going to happen again and here it is, you know, the end of october. bill: peter, why did it

happen again, do you think? >> i think you're going to see there was a confluence of events. but i think the fundamental decision you got to question is, i mean, this was a noreaster, why would you divert your plane into the teeth of the storm? right? they were going to land in new york, they move them further up the coast into hartford, a smaller airport, perhaps not as well equipped. why wouldn't you have diverted the plane south, out of the track of the plane? >> that's a fair question. bill: you say it's the airport's responsibility. did i hear you right? >> well, the airport has got to keep its taxiways clear, it's got to allow planes to be able to get to the jetways, and it's the airline's responsibility to make the arrangement sos that their plane can get there. it's a combined responsibility. bill: i see. so here's what the law says. the rule prohibits u.s. airlines operating domestic flights of which there were three, the other one was international, from permitting an aircraft to

remain on the tarmac for more than three hours without deplaning passengers clearly that was not followed here. there are exceptions allowed only for safety or security. could that have played a factor? >> well, i'm sure the airline is going to say it was a safety issue. you know, that it was a blizzard taking place, they couldn't get people down, the -- down the portable jetways, that it was unsafe to move them off the tarmac, but this will be the first test of this law to see whether it's got any tooth. bill: that's a good point, you're right about that. there was one international flight and that goes by different rules, right? >> they have four hours to deplane. and there's got to be some sort of immigration area where the people can deplane, too, where they can clear customs or be held until customs can clear them. bill: we'll see what happens here. i mean, a storm like this in october, you don't expect it in the first player then you're slapped with this?

thanks for a tough weekend. peter, thank you for coming in. peter goelz is my guest out of washington, former director of the ntsb. just to review the passenger bill of right, here's what it says again about these delays, foreign and domestic flights are covered, that's a four-hour maximum unless there's a safety issue, as i just mentioned, carriers must provide food, water and working bathrooms if the delay is longer than two hours. pat well, this is not just father's halloween. or maybe it is. remember when the holiday's all about kids and trick or treating? well now adults are getting into the act. halloween is becoming big business with the average person spending 72.31 on costumes and decorations. julie banderas has more. >> reporter: this survey is accurate, i spent about that on my daughter's elmo costume this year. ghosts and gob lins and moms

aren't scared of the weak economy. and only christmas is booming this year, probably propelled by the dismal summer. consumers will be goal ling up treats with over 106 million people planning on celebrating halloween this year, the highest number according to the national retail association since they began that survey nine years ago. it's not just the kids that will be gobbling up the fun, while an estimated 40 million children between ages of five and 14 will be trick or treating on halloween night, more adults are dressed up, too. seven in ten americans or 68 percent of you plan to celebrate tonight, up from 53 percent last year. and those celebrating are spending more, too. total halloween spending is expected to reach nearly $7 billion, and sales of halloween stores, they are on the rise as well, even those temporary pop up stories that open for the sixth largest retail holiday of the year are in the black. >> we notice an increased in

sales. i don't know if the economy is getting better, but in any case, new yorkers are ready to party and they're going to spend no matter what. >> in an economy like this one, people like togate out there, get loose and have a little fun, one of the reasons it's a holiday for adults. scientists have not discovered why this is the time of year for women to go out half naked. i was lying at costumes, i'm dressing as a bird? a promiscuous big bird cost um is all i could find! patti ann: didn't know there was such a thing. >> i'm covering up, i'm not going to be one of the promise uous ones. bill: that's the funniest thing you ever said, well placed! see you later. bill: it is a milestone the entire world should mark, the global population now at officially 7 billion, and consider this, according to the u.n., it took the world

127 years to go from a billion to 2 billion, 33 years later, we went from 2- 3 billion, and in only the last 12 years, we added another 1 billion people. the 10 billion mark, by the end of the century is what is predicted by the united nations. half of those people will be along the parade route on sixth avenue later tonight when the halloween parade rolls through grenich village. ever been down there? it's like ten stacked on one side, 12 deep on another, it runs up and down for about 2 miles. >> and what's going on in the middle is definitely entertaining. bill: crazy stuff. mine, the rest of america should really see this. someday it will be televised. patti ann: we'll have footage for you so stay tuned for that. playing fair with health care, nancy pelosi defending companies asking for exemption, why she says it's okay. bill: also two young boys got used to their dad serving in iraq, not attending their games on saturday. but not anymore. the sweetest picture of the

morning. you do not want to miss.

bill: well e. they still holding out hope of finding survivors after an earth shattering explosion in kansas, a blasted at bartlett grain killed at least three, three others missing. folks in that community, a tight knit american community say it felt like the whole ground was moving beneath them. >> we fealt huge explosion. the house actually rocked. and lights flickered off and on for about 4-5 seconds. >> it sounded like an earthquake going on. it really did. i was sitting there and all of the sudden, damn. >> bill: airborne dust at a grain factory can be highly combustible and can explode when ignited. apparently there were 600 such explosions reported

over the past 40 years. patti ann: well, the obama health care law was supposed to revolutionize the american health system, but about 1800 companies have been granted waivers, exempting them from parts of the president's overhaul. house speaker nancy pelosi saying, quote, i couldn't speak to all 1800 of them, but some of the list that i have seen have been very, very small companies, they will not have a big impact on the economy of our country. mcdonald's is not a small company and they got a waiver, among others, and dr. marc siegl joins from us the fox news medical a team. thank you for joining us. >> hi patti ann, how are you. >> 1800 got the waiver, specifically exempting them from omabacare's requirement that they require a certain amount of health insurance to their employees. is it proper for the government to impose a law on the public in general and then exempt companies of their choosing from having to follow that law? >> of course not. if the law was working you wouldn't need 1800 companies with waivers, and you wouldn't need the obama

administration now having to put a kabash on that those waivers going forward because there's been so much of an outcry about that. you know, the problem is that premiums are going to soar. let me tell you what the waivers are. the waivers are granted to businesses because they aren't able to make what's called the annual limit. omabacare starting in 2014 is going to have no annual limit, no limit on how much you can pay out. right now, the limit is 1.25 million per plan, but some small businesses and large businesses can't afford that, because premiums rise when you get rid of the annual limit. in other words, if you can pay out any amount of money, no matter what the cost, and many of the diseases that i treat are very expensive, i mean, cancer, incredibly expensive, heart disease, very expensive. if you go beyond that limit the insurance companies are going to have to raise premiums to compensate for that. nancy pelosi is way out of line even talking about this when you consider the most recent waivers, 20 percent went to her district in san

francisco, a restaurant called the stinking rose. i think this whole thing smells. patti ann: you're talking about -- the daily caller did a report back in may of the month before in april and found that in not one month, 20 percent of the waivers nationwide went to one district in california, and that was pelosi's district. so there's also the question of that, are these waivers going out to -- is there favoritism. >> democratic districts, unions are getting one of the waivers, small businesses with special interests. actually, it was -- small business isn't the right word to use because most waivers went to businesses with less than 500 employees but not less than 50 employees. most are large businesses currying favor and they have the mini med polices where many employees are not well covered. the question is if you're going to mandate this comprehensive insurance and as i talked about on this show many times, it covers everything, every doctor visit, no copay, no deductible, enormity nously expensive, then you don't put an annual limit on top

of it, it's so expensive premiums are going to soar, it's going to bust the banks. patti ann: you mentioned it's not just small businesses. we mentioned mcdonald's in the intro. 1800 companies got these waivers. more wanted them but as you mentioned, they stop granting waivers last month, they had to set a deadline but the fact that so many companies wanted them, a sign you say that the companies truly feared their damages -- businesses would be damaged or destroyed by this. >> there's no question about it. they're all looking forward to the time when they're going to be paying the penalty and dumping employees on to the state exchanges, but in the meantime they're stuck with this idea they've got to pay out more and can't afford it. even states, patti ann, are faced with this, florida, new york, new jersey, ohio, all states which can't make that high of a limit on the amount they pay out every year. there's been no reckoning. when omabacare came out, they said it's going to confer you -- cover you, you get to keep your insurance that you have, and it will be comprehensive, but they didn't understand that it's going to cost a ton of

money, skyrocketing premiums. the same problem we saw in massachusetts, we're seeing nationwide. patti ann: it's interesting, the point that you made, that there are many states that have also applied for this waiver, because states, of course, are also employers, and we've had several states apply fog the waivers, swell all these thousands of businesses. so interesting development. dr. marc siegl, thank you. >> the law is not working out well. patti ann: thank you very much for joining u. from the fox medical a team. bill: and i'll see you at a resent in san francisco, and you can pick you the bill, okay? thank you doc. jon scott is joining us on "happening now with a significant guest. it is the news of the day. good morning. jon: it sure is, bill. we're talking about herman cain, he is in an jump comfortable stot bike -- spot like today, he's leading in most of the polls for the republican nomination, now two separate stories causing the campaign some big headaches. one report claims that during the 1990s, two women came forward, accusing cain of inappropriate behavior. the other raises questions about campaign funding at

the beginning of this presidential run. is it just the heat that comes with being a new top tier candidate? you'll hear it from the man himself, the answers, from herman cain. he's our guest today. bill looking forward to that, jon, and there will be headlines from that, okay? only moments away. good to see you, jon. >> jon: you too, bill. bill: a soldier returning home from iraq, man, he came home in style. >> i happy that he's home. >> to be home and watch me and my brother play a good game of football. [ male announcer ] from the soups you know and love come soups that you'll love getting to know. new slow kettle style soups from campbell's. extraordinary taste sensations crafted from premium ingredients. slow kettle. new from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.

♪ we never can give enough ♪ i got something for you and you... ♪ [ female announcer ] may your holidays be merry and bright. merry pringles.

>> there has been an arrest in mexico after a flight attendant for us airways was found dead in a hotel room, police call the man's death murder. he was in mexico at layover, other members of the crew have been moved to another hotel as a precaution. patti ann: and a frightening

scene at a resort, very popular with american tourists, a shooting at a bawsy mall in casho san lucas in broad day flight mexico. take a look at this security video. you can see shoppers running from stores at the sound of gunfire, and this dramatic picture that we'll be showing of you a police officer, running for cover. you can see a semiautomatic in one hand. what's that in the other hand? a baby. police eventually arrested two men wanted for killing a mexican marine earlier that day. bill: there are new details now about the downfall of moammar qaddafi, reports that hillary clinton played a key role in ousting the dictator. david piper streams live, he's in tripoli, the capitol city. what can you tell us about secretary clinton's role that we're now learning, david? >> reporter: hi bill. yes, there was always that criticism that america was leading from behind this nato operation that ended today, but it seems some people in the know suggest

that the real leader behind the scenes was hillary clinton, an unnamed european diplomat said she held the nato alliance together when those french guests sped across the mediterranean and attacked. it seems the italians were particularly upset by that action and also clinton has been here over the past week and she did seem to take it personal interest in what's happening here, and we saw that on the ground over the weekend when a u.s. air force plane brought back some patients to the states after she asked that they were helped. bill: what's the relationship going to be like between the u.s. and the new government there in lib yarks david? >> reporter: it's probably not going to be anywhere as bad as when qaddafi was in power. you have to remember the u.s. embassy was bombed by qaddafi thugs and the u.s. ambassador was physically

abused when he left the country. he's back, he says he's confident there will be a strong relationship, but you also have to understand that libya will be a very different place now and i think america will be happy if they have a stable democratic country in this region. back to you bill. bill: david piper on the ground in tripoli, where there are still countless developments in that country patti ann: and a fox news alert. the united nations cultural arm, unesco, have voted to give membership to the palestinians. this makes unesco the first u.n. agency that the palestinians have spotted to join as a full member his mahmoud abbas filed for a member of the united nations last month. well, the united states has vowed to veto full u.n. membership for the palestinians and little threatened to cut funding to unesco if the body votes to make them a full member. palestinians granted membership in unesco.

bill: in the meantime herman cain is facing accusations of seal harassment. he is live on fox in a matter of moments. and a celebration for the home team! a sea of red, filling downtown st. louis. that team was 10 1/2 games down on august 26th! wow! the world series champion cardinals hitting the streets today. news, moments ago, the manager, tommy larusso, age 67 will now retire after 33 years. that man went out in style in a big, big way! congratulations, st. louis and a great season to the texas rangers. we're back in a mom, after this. no problem. you want to save money on rv insurance? no problem. you want to save money on motorcycle insurance? no problem. you want to find a place to park all these things?

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patti ann: get your keenex ready. a surprise home coming in mississippi. garrett and will didn't think their dad was going to be at their football game, because he was serveing in iraq! their father, coming out after the national anthem. it does not get any better than this, the boy's mother

saying it was difficult to keep the secret. >> it was awful. it was awful. but there are a lot of people in on it, and it's the most amazing moment ever. >> i'm so happy he's home. >> he can be home to watch me and my brother play a good game of football. >> i'm just glad to be home. >> specialist griffin has been serving in iraq for a little more than a year. bill: that is so cool. how cool is this, huh? there we are. it looked like something out of michael jackson's thriller video, that's what it says here, the undead! taking over the streets of portland, oregon, the annual zombie walk, or were they actually dead? mad son, wisconsin, it's a freak fest, all ages, all kinds of costumes filling the streets over the weekend in that city. big weekend here in new york, too, costumes out, but it's a big, big, big night tonight for the big parade. patti ann: as julie said, grownups definitely getting into the whole dressing up. bill: they always do. i'm tell