>> clayton: thanks for joining us, tomorrow on the show, have you heard of this guy, running for student council. join us for the "after the show" show. >> alisyn: and massachusetts senator scott brown will be here and tune in for the "after the show" show. >> clayton: happy national ice cream day. >> jamie: good morning, a "fox news alert" for you. iran is threatening world supply of oil, the u.s. is taking this one very seriously. the rogue reggie regime saying it will block the gateway to the gulf and a narrow waterway known that's strait of hormuz and tehran says it will act if it feels its security is threatened. what does that mean? good morning, everyone i'm jamie colby, great to have you here. >> eric: i'm eric sean on this sunday morning, welcome to america's news headquarters. we know the strait of hormuz is a vital waterway, about 20%, 1/5 of the world's oil supply passes through the narrow strait.

the lifeblood of many nations. now iran again vowing to increase its naval presence in international waters and even claiming it is developing a long range missile that some fear would could one day hit though united states. what does all the escalating threats and continued defiance by tehran mean? joining us as he does every sunday about this time is fox news contributor and former ambassador to the united nations: john bolton. ambassador, good morning. >> good morning, eric. >> eric: we always discuss iran, usually every sunday and now the escalations are continuing. can they close the strait of hormuz? >> well i think they could close it for a very short period of time. but, our military has gained -- gamed this out over the years and feel confident they could reopen it in a short period of time and are moving resources to the region, right now, and in preparation for a possible closure. but i think, really what is going on here is that iran is sabre-rattling for a couple of

purposes. and that includes the reports we have seen about missile testing and the like and are trying to ratchet up the international price of oil by making it looks like there is risk to the strait of hormuz and they are saying, basically, to the united states and europeans, that they are not going to be intimidated by economic sanctions or threats to their nuclear weapons program, and i think this is key, they are now beginning to tie the nuclear question into the syria question. just earlier today, iranian media reported that the government had invited all of the factions in syria to come to tehran to have peace talks. so i think this is something that has been brewing for a while. but it is very clear, iran is saying, don't step on our toes. >> eric: peace talks in tehran. what does that signal to you? >> well i think that the iranian leadership is very committed to keeping the assad dictatorship in power. there is no doubt about that,

they have a lot at stake and iranian revolutionary guards officers are helping the assad regime and its military operation but we have feared this outcome for a long time. that if iran felt that the assad regime was about to fall, they might be prepared to make a trade, with the obama administration. it would go something like this: we'll give up assad, we'll lose that pawn in effect, to protect our nuclear weapons program, you give us legitimacy for what we are doing and a broad an deep nuclear program and we'll be satisfied if assad falls, that would be a disastrous deal for the west but it is one iran could well angle for and tying it all together is very much behind the idea of hosting peace talks among the syrian factions. >> eric: do you think that is a deal the obama administration would take? and could be offered? >> well, let me be clear. i think it is a disastrous deal but yes, i think the obama administration would be inclined

to take it. since their diplomacy, both with respect to iran's nuclear weapons program and the ongoing civil war in syria, has been such a failure. being able to amass a successive diplomacy would give them something, even though the end result i think would be very, very risky for the united states and israel and our arab friends in the region serving it comes as the panetta report came out which is troubling, potentially, they are developing a missile that they think could hit the united states within three years. i mean, that report, ambassador, was pretty scathing. >> well, what is surprising people is that it follows years of reports from the administration that have down played iran's success with its ballistic missile program. let's be clear, these missiles are not to launch, you know, weather satellites, they are designed to be the vehicles to deliver iran's nuclear weapons, when they reach that stage, so, increasing the range, payload

capacity and accuracy of iranian missiles is very much putting them closer to the point where they can deliver a nuclear weapon worldwide and though it might be three years before they had a missile that could reach the united states, europe is a lot closer and deployed american forces in the region of the persian gulf, are obviously even closer. >> apparently they could hit europe, and israel, certainly, right now, so if you sketch the whole picture now, you have continued iranian defiance and development of the ballistic missile systems and saber rattling over closing the strait of hormuz and what is the end game and where do you see it going, ambassador? >> well, i think it is moving in the wrong direction and iran is on the march and whatever the economic pain of this new sanctions that have gone into effect, iran is clearly showing they are not goingo dissuade them from the 20-year effort to get deliverable nuclear weapons, and, i think they are determined to make progress during an election campaign period in the

united states, where they think the obama administration doesn't want anything from the foreign policy world reflecting on his leadership. so i think iran is in a very strong position and the end game is headed towards nuclear weapons. >> eric: and the u.s. moving more assets into the persian gulf, especially the mine sweepers. ambassador john bolton, good to see you, as always, perceptive, thank you. >> thank you, eric. >> jamie: another "fox news alert," the syrian regime denies accusations their security forces massacred civilians last week, the foreign ministry saying the comments by u.n. special envoy kofi annan were, quote, rushed. the associated press is reporting new details from u.n. observers on the ground. what are they seeing? a mass grave and pools of blood in homs. activists saying as many as 220 people have been killed there. the regime insisting they killed rebel fighters. meanwhile the red cross is declaring a conflict in syria. a civil war.

as a result, the international humanitarian law will apply, throughout the country, which regulates conduct in armed conflict. >> eric: the family of a boston pastor abducted in egypt, appealing for his release. reverend michael lewis was on a church trip to retrace jesus' steps in the holy land and he and two others were kidnapped. the reverend is diabetic and if not released soon, his son says, his health could deteriorate. peter doocy is joining us, and, it is so troubling, when this abducted, especially from islamists. >> reporter: he goes to mt. sinai every year so he can see the spot where god gave moses the ten commandments in the old testament but this year he is not there because, while his bus full of missionaries was on its way there from cairo, a 32-year-old egyptian named jeremy abdul massou stopped them

and kidnapped the pastor as well as a 39-year-old woman from everett, massachusetts, lisa alphonse and their tour guide and the abduction was coordinated, according to the associated press by the man's desire to free his 62-year-old uncle from prison and the kidnapper has reportedly said that if the egyptian authorities keep him in prison for 50 years, his hostages will stay with him for 50 years. and, even though the pastor's family back in boston is worried, they are not interested right now in taking an eye for an eye. >> you know, i am sure they have their own reasons for doing such. i mean, we just would love to return to our normal lives. >> reporter: yesterday, the free pentecostal church of god in boston, dozens of people gathered to pray for their pastor's release. the u.s. aid department said they don't confirm the names of americans kidnapped abroad and

secretary of state hillary clinton is in egypt now, where it is all happening and so far has not said anything about the kidnapping but we are monitoring her meetings closely to see if she does and the trip to egypt, it is worth noting is part of a planned swing through the middle east and she did not fly there because the pastor was kidnapped. eric. >> eric: our thoughts and prayers are with the pastor and his family at this time. for both of them, thank you, peter. jamie. >> jamie: as peter mentioned in egypt, secretary clinton is meeting with the head of the egyptian army, attempting to end a stand off between military and civilian leaders. the u.s. is urging egypt's army to cooperate with the newly elected islamic leaders and the obama administration offering financial assistance to rebuild egypt's economy in return for a smooth return to civilian rules. eric. >> jamie: the british format defending its plans for the london olympics. have you heard about this? is the international security contractor g4s failed to deliver more than 10,000 guards for the 17 day event and the top

official in britain, in charge of the olympics, he says the government did act quickly to address the gaping problem. and have brought in an extra 3500 british troops who will fill in for the security gap. ♪ >> jamie: new fallout from the obama campaign's attempt to turn up the heat on governor mitt romney. a barrage of attacks including an ad accusing his former firm, bain capital of shipping american jobs overseas. a charge that many independent observers have called misleading. some even saying, they are absolutely unsubstantiated. is the attack strategy working for the obama campaign or could the negative tone of the president's re-election campaign turn off voters come november or even right now? joining me now, charlie hurt, a columnist with "the washington times," great to have you here this morning. >> good morning to you, jamie. >> jamie: first of all, has it reached a new level, the attack

where the president is suggesting that governor romney is a felon? >> i have to tell you, in all my years of covering national politics i do not remember a more ruthless campaign where you have a sitting president, the campaign of a sitting president, accusing his opponents of being a felon on specious grounds. i would argue, perfectly refutable grounds. but to have a sitting president's campaign accuse his opponent of being a felon, and, then, have the president come out and do nothing to walk back the accusation that he is a felon. it is shocking to me and i think your question is the right one. i think that at some point, americans don't tend to fall for class warfare tactics all that well. they don't turn out well in national politics, and i think that -- i would call it a desperate effort by the president to avoid talking about

the economy. i think it very well may backfire on him. >> jamie: that's my next question. here's a statement from a romney spokesperson. calling the accusations regarding bane primarily, but goes further than that, the president in his campaign, dishonest, totally unsubstantiat unsubstantiated. and, attacks meant to smear the reputation of his oenlt. now, the president has a mandate for americans to buy health insurance, and, is planning to raise taxes and many say it will lose jobs and is a job killer and the question is, is it just a distraction because those are things the president wants to avoid? >> oh, absolutely. the president -- president obama is willing to talk about absolutely anything, that is why we heard so much about contraception and the social issues, a few months back, because president obama wants to talk about anything but the economy. the other thing that is sort of

troubling here, though, is that it is also pretty effective. you know, a week ago, week and three days ago, we got news of the -- you know, unemployment continues to go up, and the economy is -- looks like it will not get better. worse before it gets better and these are troubling signs and within days, the entire media shifted and had gone after president obama's attacks on mitt romney and, spent all week stalking about bain capital and... >> jamie: i said it is like deja vu, yesterday, we have talked about it and, the other thing the president keeps raising is governor romney's wealth, if you attack someone, tell me if i'm right or wrong, i want the american people to understand, we are all striving to succeed and if we, attack someone for gaining wealth, what does it say about the rest of us and the ability to obtain the american

dream? >> exactly and that is exactly why the class warfare tactics don't work, because most americans look at a wealthy person and say, one day i'll be that guy. unlike a lot of places where people, it is a cast system and no one can break out and i think, i would argue all of the attacks, specified attacks about mitt romney being a felon and, wanting to -- his tax returns and wanting to have these... these squabbles, what year did he leave bane and all of this kind of stuff, all of it is a broad brush attempt by obama and his campaign to simply paint mitt romney as a rich guy who cannot relate to all of these... the troubles of working class people and, that is a pretty disgusting tactic. >> jamie: let me squeeze in one more. in your opinion the president is using this as a distraction because he's pushing what will be potentially devastating

policies but definitely ones that are unpopular. you believe governor romney shouldn't have to apologize for his successor because he set an example we should be allowed in our current america to dream about, beyond that, has governor romney responded appropriately to the issue? is it going to go away, how feel he needs do more or can he tell us, to focus on what he will do regarding obamacare which he says he'll repeal and the costs we'll talk about later, in the program, is escalating and is also about helping americans get back to work. >> though i think the attacks on mitt romney are unfair, this was a lost week for him. he failed to take these attacks and turn them and put them back on president obama and granted i don't think people are paying much attention now but still it was a failure of mitt romney and he has got to learn how to change the subject, go on attack and, as you say, explain exactly what it is that he is going to do to make things better, and

not let people get distracted by these ruthless accusations that he is a felon, the obama campaign wants to spend the entire campaign talking about. >> jamie: and this just into fox, an interview the president did with wavy. interesting from one of our producers, that the president says he will not apologize to governor romney over the bain capital question. >> and he's thrilled to kind of keep it going, and -- mitt romney should stop talking about any of it, don't answer any more questions about it and talk about his vision, his aspirations for the economy and the country, and just ignore all of think because any kind of a response to any of it means that he is falling into their trickery to talk about something other than the economy. which is the only thing voters care about. >> jamie: charlie hurt, great to see you, thanks so much. eric. >> eric: jamie, there is a potential victory against voter

fraud in florida. the federal government agreed to let the state use a department of homeland security database to challenge voters' lists if the voters are suspected of not being u.s. citizens. voting rights groups have expressed concern over the decision. and acknowledge noncitizens do not have the right to vote but fear the information could be used to suppress legitimate voters and noncitizen voting has been an increasing issue across the country and election officials are worried and embarrassed an unknown number of people who are not american citizens have been voting and florida alone say they are reviewing a list of 180,000 possible noncitizen voters. mean while there is another voter i.d. battle taking place in texas, sued by the obama justice department, the federal trial over voter i.d. has wrapped up and in the next hour we'll talk with the sponsor of this state law in texas about his react and about the

controversy over voter i.d. in the voter fraud segment we have every week in the next hour. >> jamie: voterfraud@foxnews.com. a breakthrough in the fight against alzheimer's and important one, researchers have made a find that could be key to protecting patients against it. details from the doctors in sunday morning house call, coming up. stay with us.

>> jamie: our ballooning u.s. deficit. that is not an understatement. it is raising fears, too, that the u.s. economy may be dragged right back into recession. we're on track to exceed a trillion-dollar deficit for the fourth straight year. republicans and democrats are at odds over how to get it under control and if they can't agree we'll see a series of tax hikes and spending cuts that could kick in, next year. senior business correspondent brenda buttner, the anchor of bulls and bears, joins me. i checked with our brain room and they they're ones and know it all and they say our country may run out of money again at the end of this year and if the deficit grows by a trillion a year can we catch up? >> it seems like a pretty hard game to catch up, i think, for the last four years of the obama administration, the deficit has

been a trillion or more, right now, we are growing at a little slower pace, about 6% slower than last year but we are still on track to hit a trillion by the end of the fiscal year. in september. the problem is, that what we are doing, basically, is just basically keeping up with the borrowing, we are paying interest rates. it is like if you have a credit card and you max it out, and you can just pay the minimum and the minimum only pays for the interest rates, we are not even doing that, right now. so, we're not even getting at the real heart of the spending, and, again, it looks like come, you know, the beginning of the year we're going to be facing what they call a fiscal cliff. because, we are either -- the bush tax cuts are going to expire or huge spending cuts are going to go into effect. a lot of that will affect defense, and, politicians at that time usually are going to be going right to the brink

which means the small businesses have so much uncertainty, they are not going to be hiring. that could take us right into a double dip recession. >> jamie: and they have been in that position far too long, would you say. >> absolutely. we have so many head winds in this economy now. we have europe not buying our goods, china is slowing down and small businesses don't know if they can hire. there is obamacare, which is causing some problems, for small businesses as well. so, they are really facing a lot. we were seeing a tepid recovery but with that kind of deficit and borrowing costs it is hard to know exactly how we'll get out of it when interest rates are already at record lows. they are near 0%. there is not much more the fed can do to help us. >> jamie: less than 30 seconds. can you make any sense then of why the market on friday had a pretty good day? >> well, the market is always looking ahead and sometimes earnings reports come out and

they might think that europe is perhaps getting a little bit better. it is hard to say but i'll tell you what, in this summer months, trading is very very, low and there are very few people trading and you see a lot of swings and it is hard to read a lot in the market during the summer months. >> jamie: good advice, thanks, brenda. have a great day. >> eric: coming up we'll tell you about an incredible new device that could stop seizures in their tracks and it is so simple patients can use it well before they make the trip to the hospital. >> jamie: great news and researchers make a possible leap forward in the fight against alzheimer's, the same gene that can cause the disease may also be the key to its treatment. details ahead. [ male announcer ] let's say you need to take care of legal matters.

wouldn't it be nice if there was an easier, less-expensive option than using a traditional lawyer? well, legalzoom came up with a better way. we took the best of the old and combined it with modern technology. together you get quality services on your terms, with total customer support. legalzoom documents have been accepted in all 50 states, and they're backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee. so go to legalzoom.com today and see for yourself. it's law that just makes sense.

♪ >> eric: the president of the united states will not apologize. as you know, governor mitt romney has been asking the president to apologize over the attacks about bain capital.