>> peter: they're off! yea! [ applause ] >> steve: soldier ride 2012. see you back here tomorrow. thanks for watching. sight. congratulations to everybody here. let's get it going now, fox news alert. another week and another poor jobs report for america. our shaky economy might be on loose sand yet again. we're hearing from you, voters who will have their say over who is responsible. 9:00 here in new york and good morning. i'm bill hemmer live in "america's newsroom." martha has the day off. how are you doing. >> much-deserved. >> welcome back. >> i am jamie colby in for martin marietta martin marietta.

martha maccallum. bill: 49% believe the president's policies contribute to the economic downturn. fox business network stuart varney here. mary katharine ham, editor-at-large hotair.com. stuart start with you. what is happening this week, stu? >> don't mince words. it is a terrible report. 386,000 new claims for jobless benefits is far too high. this makes it basically the worst recovery since world war ii from any recession. the use of the record recovery is being very generous indeed. three years after the end of the recession we should not see a high number of new jobless claims, period. bill: just a week ago we were getting better. what happened? >> it was artificially low number. it included july 4th week. a lot of people didn't register for unemployment benefits. art fish -- artificially

low. bill: they continue to go up. do we have a fix on that? >> the trends is up. you're getting perilously close to 400,000 each and every week. three years after the end of a recession you should not be seeing a number that high, not even close. bill: stuart, why is that happening? why can we not break the cycle? why are we still stuck in the mud? >> the economy is extremely weak, period. if i may express an opinion, the president's policies to regurgitate or sort of resuscitate the economy have failed. taxing, tax increases which we face down the road are not doing much for this economic recovery. in fact it is suppressing the recovery. bill: we'll talk to kevin mccarthy, part of the republican leadership on that topic in 10 minutes. we asked the question, are you better off than you were four years ago? this is what we found in fox polling. 48% say no. that is lot about reagan

years, right track, wrong track. how do you evaluate the number. >> that is the reagan question isn't it 31 years ago. ronald reagan asked the same question of voters then, are you better off now than you were four years ago. it was a winning question. the answer back then is same as its now. no, half the people say we're not better off. that is a big negative for president obama. bill: more on the polling a bit later on the program. stuart, you have a lot to talk about on fbn. stuart varney, thank you for leading our coverage there. here is jamie with more on this. jamie: bill, you mentioned the new fox polls. they're pretty telling the race for the white house is statistical dead heat right now despite a flood of negative attacks on governor romney. the numbers are largely unchanged from a month ago. 45% support the president. 41% back the governor. that is within the margin of error. a look at the all-important independent voters, show 20 8% of them, they're still undecided.

mary katherine hall, fox news contributor, editor-at-large at hotair.com. to see you. good morning. >> good morning. jamie: where are we right now? i want to ask you about the independent voters. hard to believe 28% of them still don't know. >> no, they're going to wait around. they will do vacations. it will be post labor day when they start engaging. republicans more than democrats at this point are enthused about the election, excited about voting. in the middle sometimes you get people who are low information, who tune in later in the game. that's what, that's what all this pregame is b everybody is trying to set the agenda for when those people start paying attention. there are 28% of them like you said who can be convinced either way. jamie: without a doubt the obama campaign has spent a ton of time attacking governor romney, in particularly let's say with bain capital. did they get anything out of it if the polls show they're still in a statistical dead heat. >> different polls show different things.

in this case in the fox poll for sure over the past couple months governor romney held steady at 40 or 41. in fact the president's numbers have fallen several points. they were 47 at one point several months ago. 45, just a couple points higher at one point. interesting his are falling steady and falling off as well. here's the thing. they're both attacking a lot. they both want to make more ground up at that. i add another data point from the cbs "new york times" poll, president is lose on likeability numbers which is normally his big strength on negative economy. the negative attacks is blowing on the hope and change. he may not stay that clean while attacking this hard and that will be problematic for him. jamie: campaign watchers always said likeability is a key factor. how much less likeable is the president after the comment, because i'm seeing a lot of outrage across the country from small business owners in particular who are saying you're telling me that all my hard work doesn't mean that i built my business?

who else did it then? >> right. i think that is an important moment. i have see it popping up on my facebook page with folks not necessarily political engaged but heard the comment and are concerned about it. mitt romney lit a fire under him. he looked better on his feet and normally more excite i had than on the campaign trail. it set the groundwork to talk about stuff he cares about that makes him look good and does not speak well of the president. the quote sounds very bad for him. he has to face up to the fact that he said it. people keep saying out of context. if you read the whole context it doesn't exonerate. he talks about hey, look you're not sew hard-working as you think or smart as you think. the roads built your business for you that is not a solid message for independents. they look at that and go look, i know a lot of people who built their business and value success and i want to continue to do that. for that 28% that matters. jamie: thanks very much.

mary katharine ham, great to see you. that thanks. jamie: florida is a key state and florida could be a winner for the president if he can lock down its 29 electoral votes. the outlook is shaky. florida drowning in high unemployment rates and mass foreclosures there. bill: another fox news alert. significant developments on the spiraling violence in syria. we're awaiting a vote at the u.n. security council. next hour, 10:00 a.m., eastern time, a resolution that is aimed at ending the bloodshed there. this is very difficult work. this is a day after a rebel bomb attack struck at the heart of bashar assad's regime killing key members of his inner circle including the defense minister and his brother-in-law. david lee miller is live at the u.n. what can we expect next hour? good morning. >> reporter: we expect a vote as you mentioned but diplomaticly it is not

expected there will be a great deal of movement. kofi annan called for the vote scheduled to take place yesterday to be postponed so member-states can unite. now appears they are deadlocked. nevertheless 10:00 eastern time a british sponsored resolution calling for sanctions targeting iran unless the regime moves back its troops and weapons from heavily populated areas will be voted on here at the united nations. russia and china repeatedly said they are going to veto this resolution. the russians even have their own resolution which specifically omits any mention of sanctions. yesterday president obama spoke with the russian leadership. the secretary-general of the united nations spoke to chinese leadership, trying to broker some type of a compromise. that bottom line here does not appear to be in the offering. no breakthrough is expected. we expect that vote to take place again in a little less than one hour's time. bill? bill: what then, david lee, if the vote fails to pass as

expected? >> reporter: it is very possible that there could be a vote on a simple u.n. resolution that would do nothing more than extend the mandate for u.n. observers to remain in syria. that mandate is going to expire on friday. already though the norwegian general, bill, who was in charge of the observers on the ground, has left damascus. he is headed to geneva. in his news conference before departing he told reports for the sake of the syrian people we need effective leadership from the security council but he also said that the mission of those observers on the ground completely irrelevant unless there's a political process in place and at this time that does not appear likely. bill? bill: david lee, thank you. we'll be in touch when we get he had headlines from the u.n. here in new york city. david lee miller acrosstown. jamie has context on this. jamie: ambassador bolton is weighing in later. over the last 16 months the

u.n. claims that the syrian regime killed 10,000 protesters. in 2002, president george w. bush labeled the regime as part of axis of evil a group of countries that seek weapons of mass de, have. who are the folks rising up against the regime. 55% of the population, 25 years old and younger. bill: 10 minutes past the hour now. developments as we get all that. we're just getting started on this thursday. there were disturbing new reports today why the fort hood shooting was simply not investigated. there was a congressman saying it was all out of political correctness. >> got to check that one out. as congress remains in a dead-heat extending bush tax cuts, americans are saying what they think about washington's tax debacle. the numbers could be a concern for the white house. congressman kevin mccarthy is in next. bill: mitt romney hammers the president on comments that suggesting that success is a gift from the government. michael barone will analyze that. >> he tries to divide

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jamie: wow! it is a bombshell report out this morning on the fort hood shooting and the man charged with mass murderer at that military base. the review claiming the fbi was too concerned about political correctness to fully investigate the questionable relationships of an american muslim in our military. republican congressman michael mccaul says e-mails by army major nidal hasan show signs he was an islamist extremist and was told it was not investigated because of sensitivity issues. hasan is charged with killing 13 people and wounding 32 in the november 2009 rampage at fort hood. currently he is being tried in a military court.

bill: americans now weighing in on the tax cut debate dominating washington and the campaign trail and the markets as well. new for example polling shows this, 72% of you say it's a bad idea to raise rates on anyone during a an economic downturn. back in 2010 president obama agreed to a two-year extension of the bush-era tax rates. he proposes allowing rates to go up for those that make $250,000 a year. that would raise $85 billion per year for the government. a little bit of context. the federal deficit an estimated $1.2 trillion. people making more than $250,000 a year pay 44% of all income taxes. kevin mccarthy, republican from california, house majority whip. sir, good morning to you. >> good morning. bill: there was a vote yesterday, 414-2 in the house that would encourage the white house to show it hands on what it proposes about the looming cuts that are coming up at the end of

this year. what do you want to know? >> we want to know, have you got a plan? one thing this white house and this democrat-controlled senate, they never produced a budget. do you have a plan where you're going? sequestration says it will cut 1.2 trillion over 10 years. half of that coming from the military. how can you plan to protect this country and this nation around the world if you don't know what those cuts are going to be. the best thing to do is plan ahead of time. we think there is better way ever going about doing it. we're asking the white house to tell us what their plans are and they refuse to tell it. politics as usual. bill: you saw the poll there, about 72%. what do you make of that number? >> when you see 72% that is a bipartisan part of this country. this is a country understands small businesses create jobs. when the president wants to raise taxes he hurts small business. most of them run as an s corp. a bipartisan joint committee and went through and studied it. more than a million small businesses will have their taxes increased. small business creates more

jobs than any large corporation. that's why we're hurting today. bill: you heard ben bernanke on the hill this week in a couple different hearings, one on the house side, one on the senate side. his message was do no harm. he cast concerned about that. what do you think of that comment? >> that comment was very telling, number one thing hurting american job growth is uncertainty and policies coming out of the white house. think for a moment when the democrats came in and democrats controlled all. that the stimulus would mean that unemployment would never go above 8%. 40 months later, that is not true. then obamacare creates more uncertainty into the marketplace. and the amount of regulation. that's why just next week we'll pass a bill on the floor that says no new regulation until unemployment is under 6%. bill: will you have democrats vote in your favor on that, do you know? >> i believe we will. bill: how many? >> well, normally we just get a handful. you know what?

we start somewhere. biggest problem we have is even having a bill come up for a vote in the senate. harry reid won't bring anything up. bill: look under the hood on these tax negotiations. where are they with your democratic counterparts? is there any common ground at the moment or i this something that will drag for five months? >> well i actually hope there could be common ground because remember, when democrats controlled all two years ago, they extended because they knew in a down economy, just like 72% of americans, that you should not raise it. 130 democrats in the house voted for that. but then just this week i listened to senator patty murray say she wants the country to go off the cliff for political reasons? that's what is wrong with washington. we should put people before politics. best thing we could do is end uncertainty, extend the tax cuts into the next year to be able to work out an entire new tax reform. bill: still not clear where the negotiations are. are there any?

>> well if the dems want to go off the cliff you know where it is, there don't seem to be any. and we're wide open in the process. i know mitch mcconnell said, put both plans, tax plans up for a vote in the senate. put the president's tax increases and the extension of the tax cuts and harry reid said he wouldn't even bring them up. bill: we'll see if that happens. kevin mccarthy, thank you for your time. we'll talk very soon. thanks, jamie? jamie: a lot of people talking about this morning. president obama's remarks behind every successful person in this country is the hand of government. new polls showing a majority of people think though government is the problem. we're going to take a closer look at that. bill: george zimmerman breaking his silence in an exclusive interview with sean hannity. he will tell us his side of the story about what happened the night trayvon martin died and whether or not he would do anything differently as he looks back now. >> is there anything you regret? do you regret getting out of the car to follow trayvon that night? >> no, sir.

>> do you regret that you had a gun that night? >> no, sir. >> do you feel you wouldn't be here for this interview if you didn't have that gun? ó@@ down here, folks measure commitment by what's getting done. ó@@ the twenty billion doars bp committed has helped fund economic and environmental recovery. long-term, bp's made a five hundred million dollar commitment to support scientists studying the environment.

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bill: all right. 23 minutes past the hour right now. new report from the aarp saying more than 1 1/2 million older americans have lost their homes and millions more are still at risk from the u.s. housing crisis. san bernardino, california, heading straight to bankruptcy. will not pass go. will not collect 200 bucks, monopoly fans. city council declaring a fiscal emergency. worried they will not be able to meet payroll next month. fast tracking that bankruptcy filing to avoid a lengthy mediation process. but it is not all dark skies in the golden state. this is california, now.

beautiful morning to wake up to. check out the rainbow in ventura county. that is kind of cool. do you have a song for that? jamie: i do. "somewhere over the rainbow", here comes bill. sit down now. we're done. bill: judy garland dropped in for a moment. jamie: thanks. well, there's no rainbow here because thousands of people are still without power in the northeast in the wake of a very powerful string of storms. new york city, last night, crazy. umbrellas offering very little protection from the heavy downpours and strong gusty winds that we got. also take a look at this. here's that storm over the big apple. from 10,000 feet taken from a plane leaving the city by former nfl player dahani jones. pretty cool. anna kooiman is live from the newsroom to tell us about that and damage we really saw overnight. right? >> reporter: crews were working through the night to restore power but, jamie, still thousands of residents

in the northeast and midwest getting ready for school and work in the dark this morning. at one point on long island alone, 22,000 people without power. heat across the mid-atlantic and midwest firing up thunderstorms yesterday. people taking cover as heavy rain and hail snapping power lines and uprooting trees causing roads to flood. there was a brief tornado warning in the boston area and flood warnings in several states including massachusetts, rhode island and connecticut. severe thunderstorms roaring through new jersey, sparked by hot, hazy and humid conditions. the storm briefly halting the toronto blue jays, new york yankees game at yankee stadium as crews roll out the tarp. >> because when you, i'm not steady on my feet. >> hard to do what we have to do in the light. there is no air. so it is even harder. >> reporter: several states are dealing with power outages for second time in two weeks. for example, storms on june

the 29th left00 of house thoses of people in the northeast without electricity, jamie. jamie: we hope that would be it. looks like it may not be over yet. >> reporter: this afternoon severe storms may cause additional problems as crews try to get power back on. the fox news weather team say the best chance of hail, lightning winds, eastern illinois through the ohio valley through the appalachians. heat warnings and advisory remain from dakotas to oklahoma tennessee and along the ohio river. jamie: yesterday was like 98. bill, they said it felt like 108. a brutal day yesterday. bill: there was a boomer above my apartment building in the 5:30 in the afternoon. i thought the lightning bolt was in the kitchen. jamie: my power flickered. bill: i did not. you could see it throughout the city. look what happened during a weather forecast in boston. this station was hit by lightning. locked out power. jamie: my goodness. bill: he is kept in the dark a little bit there.

cue up a generator. people at the station said the lightning strike was like the building was hit by a missile. power is back on there we understand. 26 past and a chilling crime caught on camera. a man seen grabbing a little girl to try to carry her away. guess who saved her? jamie: amazing. president obama said if you're a success in this country, the government did something to help you, could that be a game-changer. >> barack obama's attempt to denigrate and diminish the achievement of the individual diminishes us all. we all of course recognize the power of all of us working together. we're united nation. he divides us. he tries to divide america, tear america apart. he tries to diminish those who are successful in one walk of life or another. it is simply wrong. [ male announcer ] don't miss red lobster's four course seafood feast,

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and you never need referrals. so don't wait. with all the good years ahead, look for the experience and commitment to go the distance with you. call now to request your free decision guide. this easy-to-understand guide will answer some of your questions, and help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that's right for you. jamie: fox news alert. if you didn't think syria is the middle of a brutal sieve war, take a look at this. [gunfire] [shouting]. jamie: a rebel bombing in the heart of the syrian capital, taking out key members of bashar assad's inner circle, no doubt sending shivers down the spine of regime diehards. as for president assad himself, completely mia. he hasn't even been heard from since this happened.

are we seeing beginning of end of a four decade dictatorship. let's ask john bolton. former ambassador to the u.n.. >> good morning. how are you. jamie: what is the significance of this event? how serious is it? >> i think it is extremely significant. the bombing yesterday not only killed several of assad's top aides, it reflected that the opposition can penetrate anywhere inside the regime's domain. there is nothing that is secure. i think that is one reason why bashar al-assad has fled as you mentioned. we don't know where he is. from his point of view it makes sense to get out of done and go somewhere else. whether he is preparing to flee the country or preparing what he hopes will be a decisive counter stroke we don't know. jamie: it hasn't been the first close call for him. there still seems to be a question whether or not the rebels are responsible or might be an inside job. the military there. what do you think? >> well i think it's much

more likely to be the opposition. the facts obviously remain unclear but they certainly are coordinated in the sense they have attacked a number of targets in damascus as part of a general offensive syriawide. so it certainly points to the opposition. and i think that's why people are concerned that assad is now considering whether to use those stockpiles of chemical weapons as his father once did against the opposition forces. jamie: nothing has stood in the way of assad seeing tens of thousands of people be killed already in his country. at this point, what options does he have? >> well one is to flee and just try and get out and get asylum somewhere before things get worse for him. i think that's unlikely at this point because if he leaves there's a very real risk there would be a bloodbath against his supporters, against the

members of his version of islam. and i think that's why he is likely to stay and fight it out to the end. he has very limited time here. he needs a really vigorous use of force back against the opposition, something devastating. otherwise, i think, even his close allies will conclude that the regime days are numbered and they will fragment. i think that is what is going on now. they're trying to decide what that counter stroke is and i think one of the options unfortunately is using those chemical weapons. jamie: and one of the allies that syria believes it can count on is russia. will an appeal by us to russia to get involved work? >> the russians made it very clear for a long time they're not going to see assad overthrown. we're facing here in a few hours, perhaps even less, a potential russian, maybe russian and chinese veto defense against a chapter 7 security council resolution. so the russians are standing

by assad. they're very worried if that regime goes down they will lose their only naval base in the mediterranean. they will lose their only ally in the arab world. there is certainly no sign of russians parting the ways with assad at this point. jamie: our defense secretary, leon panetta says the country is spinning out of control. how long can it continue like this? and what should the u.s. do? do you have any sense we may have been involved in any way intelligencewise? because it was a pretty sophisticated operation penetrating security the way it was? >> right. no indication i can tell. i do think the russians them service have said we're entering the decisive battle for syria. i think things could move very quickly. i think the highest priority for the united states ought to be to try and secure or destroy syria's weapons of mass destruction and related materials. the chemical weapons, their biological weapons program, the possibility that there are still nuclear aspects

that they were working on with iran. i think we've got to look very seriously at finding ways either to destroy the weapons in place or neutralize them or do something so if the regime falls, the chemical weapons in particular don't get into the hands of terrorists like al qaeda or aren't used by regime generals as their passport out of the country. this is very serious throughout the region. the threat is really worldwide. jamie: bottom line, last question i had was about the united nations. hasn't really worked with iran. would syria pay attention? >> the united nations is irrelevant here. i think the russians as i said say will veto any resolution that purports to do more than simply extend the life of the u.n. observer force and as the head of the observer force said earlier today with no political direction from the security council, which they're not going to get, the observer force really can't do very much. i think the u.n. once again, simply a bystander.

jamie: ambassador bolton. thank you so much. great perspective this morning. >> thank you. jamie: bill? bill: thank you, jamie. i want to share this now. this is chilling video of an attempted kidnapping. watch here. surveillance camera capture as man trying to take a 10-year-old girl off a street in philadelphia, broad daylight. the little girl struggling, screen left. thanks to her 2-year-old baby brother, squawking hand in hand at the time down the street, he screams. she screams. and the young girl gets away. >> by her account she says the child literally screams louder than anything she has ever heard before. >> get this scum off our streets. this individual, i have never seen a video like this. this is completely insane. bill: not a whole lot disagreement with the mayor in philadelphia. the police say the man took off had in his car, late '90s, 2,000 sedan, a mitsubishi with visible

damage in the back. the girl thankfully okay. the family is traumatized. they're using social media in philadelphia to try to find this guy. you heard from the mayor. he means it. jamie: they will find him. bill: let's hope. jamie: terrible, terrible. bill: 22 minutes before the hour. we want a quick check of markets. jobs report, investors talking about that. we're up 33 points. you wonder why. we're bumping up against 13,000 on the dow. it is earnings season and a lot of companies are turning in frankly decent numbers. not all of them but a lot of them. that is the reason why your 401(k) is bit better and has been for the past couple weeks. we'll keep an eye out, up 34 points. jamie: 34? sounds good to me. meantime president obama said if you are a success, someone helped you. why michael barone says the president believes success a gift given to you by the government. bill: also he is talking in his first exclusive interview. george zimmerman talks to sean hannity exclusively. what he says happened the

night that trayvon martin was shot dead. >> it was a bounty put on your head by the new black panther party, wanted dead or alive. >> yes, sir. >> your life is in jeopardy? >> yes, sir. >> by the black panther party? >> amongst others, yes, sir. >> you have had multiple death threats? >> yes, sir.

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jamie: what an exciting day in new york. history right on display in the big apple. the intrepid sea air and space museum unveiling the shuttle pavilion. at 137 feet longwith a wingspan of 78 feet, should make quite an impression. >> we created this atmosphere with the brew, deep sky lit by the moon and up lighting on the shuttle. there is very dramatic sense. she deserves that. very important to create an exhibit where people can walk under her. she is 10 feet off the

ground. you walk under the belly. and viewing platform where with you get three feet into the shuttle. jamie: did you know she was a girl? i didn't. the prototype space shuttle built in 1976. it was nasa's first though it never actually flew a mission into outer space. what a treat though. bill: indeed it is. now you have something else to see in new york city. come on in, america. governor romney ramping up his attacks on president obama's controversial comments that businesses own their success to the government. >> i know you recognized a lot of people helped you in a business. perhaps the banks, investors. no question your mom and dad, your school teachers. the people that provide roads, the fire, police, a lot of people help. but let me ask you this. did you build your business? if you did, raise your hand? take that, mr. president. this is it what is happening in this country. these people are entrepreneurs. don't forget by the way, government doesn't invent

those people out of thin air. we pay for those people with our taxes. we're paying for those resources that we receive. this is the height of foolishness. shows how out of touch he is is with the character of america. one more reason why his policies have failed. it is one more reason why we have to replace him in november!. [cheers and applause] bill: so put that with this a new fox poll shows that 62% of americans are not happy with how things are going in the country today. 38% say they are satisfied. michael barone here to analyze. how are you doing? senior political analyst at the "washington examiner" and a fox news contributor. good morning to you, my friend. here is peter drucker, the man who pretty much understood business. he said the following at one point. whenever you see a successful business someone made a courageous decision. how does that square with how the president is talking today? >> it is almost directly the opposite of what president obama said at that

rain-soaked rally in roanoke, virginia, last friday. he said if you've got a business, i will quote him exactly. you didn't build that. somebody else made that happen. he is speaking about government agencies there. and, you know, if just on its face just sort of implausible. you know, the people who paved i-280 in el camino are not the people that made apple happen. steve jobs made apple happened. without him that company would not have existed in its form and would not have become at the time of his death the most valuable company by stock market capital in the world. bill: drucker is a guy throughout his entire life, he died seven years ago. he wrote about marketing and management and how business operates in his view the best. come back to this poll now okay, michael? 62% are not satisfied with the direction of the country. that is a right track wrong track number there. what does that tell you?. >> well, that tells me it's a tough time to run for re-election as president as

an incumbent in year when people think things aren't going well. we've seen european governments, presidents, fall in re-election races and we've seen president obama under 50%. i mean if you look at the realclearpolitics.com average of recent polls this morning, president obama is leading mitt romney by average of 46-45%. what that tells me the recovering pollster is that 100% know him and 54% aren't voting for him. not a good sign. bill: recovering polester. among independents and watch this number too, who would you vote for? barack obama gets 38%, mitt romney, 34. independents are 28% unsure or other. is that significant? 100 some odd days out? >> yeah, that's significant. it tells me that among independent voters, who voted plurality, majority heavily for barack obama in

2008, they're not sold yet on the idea of voting for him for re-election. so it's not surprising that the obama campaign is spending a lot of its money not talking about the stimulus package or obamacare but talking, but trying to tear down mitt romney. bill: another thing we found, what is your level of, the question was enthusiasm. but the word they used was the importance of your candidate winning? and what we found with mitt romney supporters, 58%. barack obama 48%. is that is a 10-point edge toward romney. at the moment is that a vote for romney or against president obama or both? can you evaluate it? >> well i think it is primarily a vote against president obama. when presidents run for re-election, the election tends to be a reverend up did on their service so far, their policies and the success or perceived lack of success ther in president obama's case, you know, enthusiasm was on the side of the democrats in

2006 and 2008. they were revved up, eager to vote. republicans were disheartened and a lot of them didn't turn out including republican-leaning independents. in 2010, it was the opposite. enthusiasm was on the side of the republicans. the numbers you cite, bill, are evidence that continues to be the case. bill: explain why that is so critical in an election that appears to be razor-tight, not just nationally but in these battleground states? >> well, enthusiasm is important because voting is a voluntary act and we've seen again and again that the side that can generate the most enthusiasm and get its supporters out to vote has an edge that is worth, 1%, 2%, or whatever, of the total vote. in a landslide year that doesn't make any difference. in an election that is as tight as, you know, today's 46-45 obama-romney race, obviously it could make all the difference. bill: michael, good to see

you. michael barone, your analysis from washington to our viewers. do you have a question about this? foxnews.com /americasnewsroom. shut me an e-mail, hemme hemmer@foxnews.com or. bya because you asked. we have a great question about chemical call weapons in syria. we'll put that to peter brookes. jamie: that is quite a tease. check it out. how about drones in the sigh? how easy would it be for a terrorist to take one of those over? we'll take a look at that. apparently it is not that hard. we'll have a live report. bill: also a cash-strapped city taking a rather unique approach to out of control deficits and they are not raising taxes. >> i became mayor 11 years ago. we had 500 employees. today we have 400. we're trying to reduces our costs but very difficult especially in this environment where the federal government has no money, the state has no money. for cities we're a hard

government. we have to pick up the garbage. our police and fire trucks are on the streets every day. g a very strong male spirit present. it's the priceline negotiator. >>what? >>sorry. he wants you to know about priceline's new express deals. it's a faster way to get a great hotel deal without bidding. pick one with a pool, a gym, a great guest rating. >>and save big. >>thanks negotiator. wherever you are. ya, no. he's over here. >>in the refrigerator?

bill: city workers in the broke town of skrant ton, points -- scranton, pennsylvania getting a full paycheck. the mayor slashed their pay to minimum wage. the mayor and city council are trying to reach a deal by the first of august. that is 11 days from now. they get $2.5 million in state economic assistance out of pa. jamie: it is called drone spoofing. it is the ability of a hacker to take over a drone and tell it what to do. as we reported it's a growing concern today with drones becoming more commonplace in america's skies. it is a hot topic as well on capitol hill. that is where we find senior

national correspondent, john roberts. hi, john. >> reporter: good morning to you. remember a couple weeks ago we brought you exclusive report, university of texas researchers able to hack into a drone's gps system and guide it wherever they want to go. that caught the attention of house homeland security subcommittee chairman mick mechanical who is holding a hearing on it today. why is this important? because congress recently voted to open up u.s. skies broadly to drones by 2015. the unfortunately thing was before that was put to a vote in february, nobody including the chairman, knew about this potential. here is what he told me this morning. >> i was not aware of that ability until i saw your story actually. the ut austin professor happened to be from austin. it got my attention very squarely. >> reporter: you want to hear more about it? >> absolutely. for a variety of reasons including your story that's why we're having that story today. >> reporter: catherine herridge been reporting in recent days. we know 200 drones are currently flying in us air

pace but jamie within five to 10 years that number could be 30,000. they could be doing everything from taking aerial photographs to delivering packages for fedex and ups. jamie: sounds like a very legitimate concern. we heard chairman mccaul is upset. one crucial government agency won't even show up today. what can you tell us about, that john? >> reporter: he invited department of homeland security today which they refused which he finds very curious but the government accountability office said dhs needed to look at this. back in 2004, tsa said terrorists might seek to get control of one of these drones to attack targets in the united states. here is what the chairman said in his testimony. dhs's lack of attention on this issue is not come prehensable. should not take a 9/11 terrorist style attack like hezbollah or lone wolf to address guidance and security implications of domestic drones. i had shut not take a hearing to force dhs to

develop policy when it comes to the security of our homeland. dhs fired back, hey, this is not our jurisdiction. it is the federal aviation administration. if they're concerned about security, maybe republicans who voted to put this through should have thought about it before they voted aye. jamie. jamie: john roberts live on capitol hill. john, thank you. bill: we're getting new information on this homicide bombing targeting a busload of israeli tourists many of them teenagers. we now have our first look at that bombing. is iran behind this? that is coming up. jamie: also is the federal government the answer or could it be the problem? we'll tell you what voters are saying. new polls, next. [ female announcer ] women have made it the number one selling anti-aging cream undeniably. it creamed unbelievably a $500 cream and now women have made regenerist microsculpting cream also unscented. women love it. in original and also fragrance-free. mom! look what i found in the shed! no!

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bill: we start this hour on fox news alert where george zimmerman breaks his silence in an exclusive interview with sean hannity. he is casing second-degree murder charges for the shooting death of unarmed teen trayvon

martin. now he is speaking out about the events of that night. a brand-new hour of "america's newsroom," good morning, glad to have you with us. i'm bill hemmer. how are you doing jaime. jamie: i'm doing great. i'm jaime colby in for martha maccallum. he said he followed the teen that night because he looked suspicious running between houses in the rain. he claims that trayvon martin confronted him soon after. >> do you have a problem? what's your problem. what's your problem. you said to him i don't have a problem. you reached for your problem. >> i reached for it as i was saying, no i don't have a problem. >> at that point you just got hit? >> he was already within arm's length of me. >> was that the punch in the nose that broke your nose. >> yes, sir. >> and you went immediately down to the ground? >> i don't remember if i went immediately to the ground or he pushed me to the ground but i

ended up on the ground. >> after that first hit, what happened next? >> he started bashing my head into the concrete sidewalk. i was -- as soon as he broke my nose i started yelling for help. i was disoriented, and he started slamming my head into the concrete. >> which is where the lacerations came from. >> yes, sir. >> you said it was like your head was going to explode with us a comment you gave to the police. >> yes, sir, he continued to punch me in the head. >> how many times would you estimate that he punched you? >> several. more than a dozen. bill: zimmerman patrolling the streets, a neighborhood watch job he signed up for after a scary event after august of last year. >> a lady was home with her nine-month baby. they broke in her sliding glass

door. she barricaded herself in the upstairs bedroom. and my wife was home by herself and she saw the people who had burglarized her run through our backyard with their belongings, and even though my wife wasn't certain what happened, that was enough to scare her, shake her up, and i promised her i would do what i could to keep her saof. jamie: and sean hannity giving zimmerman a chance to be clear and clear up one of the most controversial points in the entire case. >> what do you want to say to people that did rush to judgment, that suggested that there was racial profiling in this case, and that there was some other motivation in this case? >> that i'm not a racist, and i'm not a murderer. jamie: and coming up later this hour, our legal panel is here, plus the minutes leading up to the moment that george zimmerman drew his weapon and fired. bill: it is the first time we have heard from him.

there is a bit more out of this too, trayvon martin's parents rejecting george zimmerman's apology. in another part of that interview with sean hannity zimmerman says he's sorry forward. trayvon's father says he feels the apology he heard was insincere. >> george zimmerman had ample enough time to apologize to us for taking the life of our son, and to come and try to publicly a pop apologize now he's trying to save face. bill: the family's attorney says the prosecution will see last night's interview as a gift. if you want to see it it is on foxnews.com. jamie: fox news alert, israel and iran stand on the brink of a major showdown today. investigators say the surveillance video shows the man who bombed a tour bus in

bulgaria packed with israelis. that blast killed at least eight people and israel say they know who is behind it and that the attacks on their people in any location will not go unanswered. >> this is clearly a meritorious attack initiated by probably h hez, hamas or any other group under the o guidance of iran. we are in a continued fight against them. we're determined to identify who sent them and who executed it and to settle the account. jamie: jennifer griffin live at the pentagon. jen, this is so tragic, so many indent lives lost. >> reporter: jaime, the state department is not commenting on whether the suicide bomber in bulgaria was caring a fake u.s. passport for a fake michigan driver's license as alleged by the bulgarian police.

but the f.b.i. says it has scanned its database and no one exists with the name on that michigan driver's license. this security camera video shows a young man with long hair, presumed to be a wig entering and exiting the facility. he's dressed like a tourist and that is likely how he slipped on the bus. u.s. authorities are cooperating with the bulgarians and israelis to try to figure out who was behind the suicide attack that left five dead. western intelligence agencies foiled a similar plot in kenya, taking into custody anth who detailed the planning of that attack. israel blamed iran. and they blamed hezbollah, who posted on the website about how iran's revolutionary guard would go about closing the strait of hormuz and much of the gulf. the translation and link were

provided to us by the media research institute andh missilee against u.s. aircraft areas to halt traffic in the strait something that would send oil prices sky high. we understand the passenger is cooperating on all of these issues with israel. the white house has said they stand side-by-side with israel and will get to the bottom of this attack. jaime. jamie: this latest incident is one of several plots against israelis just this year. bulgarian authorities purportedly stopped a similar attack in january when they found explosives on a bus for israeli tourists. and they also foiled a plot by iran to assassinate israeli's ambassador for the apparent killing of nuclear scientists in iran. they targeted star in india, and

wounded for people there. two iranians were charged with plotting and attack in kenya after they found explosives there. we will ask peter brooks about the global effect of these incidents. bill: a majority of americans say they don't agree with the president that government makes businesses drive. 64% say government is the problem in today's economy. 23 think it's the solution. matt ma cal is with us. the president's policies are they making the government bigger and more expensive, 55% say that. smaller and less expensive only 10%. what do you make of this. matt in. >> from a business perspective it makes a lot of sense.

the reason the economy has been struggling to gain come and come out of the recession, typically that is led by entrepreneurship starting small businesses. most small businesses that want to expand or entrepreneurs who want to open a new small business see the government as a hinderance and getting in the way with over regulation and taxing. this poll shows that. small business owners have been saying this for the past three and a half years. the average american is coming along and joining us and agreeing with us that the government isn't really there to help you start your business or let your business flourish. they should step out of the way and get the entrepreneurs come through and bring us out of this recession. bill: we are reaching back into history with a quote from thomas edison. he said there is far more danger in public than in private mop tphop plea because when government goes into business it can always shift eult its

business to taxpayer. government never makes ends meet and that is the first requisite of business. >> we've seen that how many times with solar companies and electric car companies that the government invests in, that lost gets passed to you and i and taxes get raised. the small businesses can't do that, they go out of business unfortunately. i've always said the government is not in a job of creating long-term sustainable jobs, that is the private sector, that is not the government's job. bill: this reflects it too. ronald reagan once said that extreme taxation, excessive controls, oppressive competition with business, frustrated minorities and forgotten americans are not the products of free enterprise they are the rest kaouf centralized bureaucracy of government by a self-annointedee leave. are we seeing that in the jobs

number that came out earlier today when business is unsure about the direction of laws in the government in america. >> absolutely. we've been hearing this theme for months, even longer than that. small businesses are sitting on cash. i deal with a lot of small business owners in my business, a pwot of them don't want to invest in the stock market let alone expand their businesses at the time. they don't know what is going to happen with the election, and the fiscal cliff coming at the end of the year. if you have so many uncertainties behind you basically led by the government, and their decisions that they've made, why would you risk your money? and that's what it comes down to. risk versus reward. you have to have good risks versus rewards and the government is not providing that for us. bill: the stock market is flat, up 2 points on the day. matt mccall in new york. we'll speak again. jamie: right now, bill at this hour there is a nation-wide hunt for a very dangerous suspect, and accused bank robber who has

already been dubbed the ak-47 bandit. police say he's armed, extremely damag dangerous and still on the lose, we'll tell you if you should be on high alert. bill: a toddler missing for today's discovered trapped inside of a sewer pipe. oh, my. the dramatic rescue is coming up in moments. jamie: is dramatic even big enough for that? wo*ufplt thwow. and remember the president's council was supposed to create jobs. why haven't they met in six months? >> remember, the president has a lot on his plate. [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare?

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there are factors that explain that, including the holiday, with the fourth of july, and some confusion about autoplants in the midwest and in the southeast. but that's the number, inching back toward 400,000. 386 is the mark today. 15 minutes past the hour. >> unemployment is still way too high all across the country. so i expect this to be a working group in which we are coming up with some concrete deliverables. if we find things that this group with help us on and we can work on together, then we can build on that success, and in the aggregate over time this would have made a difference at a critical juncture in our economy. jamie: that was february of last year at the first meeting, independent panel, business leaders charged with finding ways to create jobs for our country.

since then they've met three more times, the last time being in january, six months ago. and asked why that was with such a weak job market right now, white house press secretary jay carney case the president is busy. >> there is no specific reason. the president has a lot on his plate. he continues to solicit and receive advice from numerous folks outside the administration about the economy, about ideas that he can act on with congress, or administratively to help the economy grow and help it create jobs. jamie: then there are the job tphurpblgs the jobles numbers, the jobless claims going up. monica crowley, author of the brand-new book, what the bleep just happened. the happy ca warrior's guide to

america, what just happened is here. do you think the jobs council is distancing themselves from the president. >> i think that could be whos could be possible. he bashed businesses and said if you have a business you didn't do that yourself, somebody else help you built it. in jobs council is a phony sham group that the president put together to make it look like he cared about the nation's economic and fiscal issues. we saw this once before with the debt commission, simpson-bowles, which he assembled, put in place and immediately and promptly blew off all of their recommendations. he's done it again with the jobs council. during the transition he assembled so-called wise minds bike paul vocker and warren buffet, blew off all of their

recommendations. this is meant to look like to the american people that he cares about all these things, when in fact he cares about dependency on government. jamie: the president was very forthright when he said that the stimulus did not create the amount of jobs he had hoped. he does seem to be touching on jobs in the re-election campaign, and it's importance, but he hasn't personally met with this jobs council in quite some time. jay carney admits to that. what realistically should this jobs council be do, it is bi-partisan. why aren't they getting more done and why isn't he meeting with them more often. >> the council includes corporations, it is intded to be bi-partisan. the president has implemented some of the recommendations that would come to the council. i would point viewers to look at entire amount of jay carney's remarks where he goes through some of the things that the president has implemented, an executive order that would

improve efficiencies, as well as four new projects are already started and that's just from this council. by contrast you have republicans who, they support the ryan budget which would cost 4 million jobs in the next two years. by a contrast republicans are doing this kind of sham vote that meaningless vote to repeal healthcare 33 times that would take away mandatory maternity coverage and breast cancer. i don't think how that would create jobs. jamie: to be able to have a conversation with two of you in this category i want you to stay on topic. this council is krerbgs o's of companies who on a number of occasion have outsourced jobs. that is something that the president has really criticized governor romney for as part of bain capital. can you put these two together and make sense of it for us? >> i don't think it's any more

deep than the fact that the jobs council is meant to have people from a variety of different perspectives. they are not going to all agree with each other or agree with the president. and as a result he's getting some information which he's been using and also has his own agenda which republicans have continue eu continued to block time and time again. >> for the first two years of this man's administration he had huge democrat majorities in the congress, so let's stop with the nonsense about blaming republican republican obstructionism. >> those are not my word that's what the american people say ph poll stkpwhr-s that is not true. the reason why we have staggering unemployment is a direct result of this president's economic policies that have created a wet pwhra*fpbgt over job creation in this nation. >> 28 straight months of private sector months. jamie: highly eupl popular and most of the american people hate which has created the lack of incentive for businesses of all sizes to create jobs. unless and until this president

is removed from office -- >> it's the failed republican policies that got us here. jamie: ladies, come on. come on. i know you're going to keep talking about this. we'll put you both together to finish it off. bill: the f.b.i. is looking for help in trying to find this masked man. they are calling him the ak-47 bandit. accused of shooting a police officer along with a spring of bank robberies. >> even if his intent is to scare and intimidate these people he could strip and shoot some of these people. with the amped up attitude he has displayed he would easily fire off a round. 0

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f.b.i. has on the line. a reward for finding this man. the prime suspect in the shooting of a police officer, a string of bank rab reese. robberies. this is choice of weapon earned him the name of the ak-47 band date. dan springer is live. >> reporter: he has hit three banks in all. the first two were in northern california. the most recent one here in washington state. that one happened on july 6th at about 6:00 at the chase bank in north bend, which is about 30 miles east of seattle. he walks in wearing a ski mask and pointed that ak-47. he yells in a loud voice, goes up to the teller demanding cash and then walks out just seconds later with a handful of money in his hand, that one free hand. his first robbery was february 29th in chino, california, where he called in a bomb threat as a diversion, then robbed the california bank and trust. in that heist he was also

wearing a bulletproof vest that said sheriff on it and ended up shooting a police officer. then a couple of weeks later he was also wearing body aerpl when he robbed a bank in sack aville, california. he's going into banks in smaller towns fully loaded for a possible shootout. in the california robbery he also had a magazine slung over his shoulder. he is ready for a shootout if it happens, bill. bill: what do police know about him? >> reporter: they don't have a lot of background information. a physical description is described as a white male 35 to 40 years old with a stocky build, they think easy round 6-foot 2, 200-pound with blue eyes. he's left the banks in three different vehicles, most recently in a dirty reddish-orange jeep patriot or liberty. it may have an out of state license plate and has a big blue stripe across the top. he marks his get away vehicle right out in front of the banks. he is obviously considered armed and dangerous and the f.b.i. is

currently offering as you said a $20,000 reward for information leading to his capture. the big concern of course is he may have had weapons training and he's shown he's usin okay with using fire power. jamie: a look at iran and a look at whether they are tomorrow piling chemical republicans. peter king is here because you asked. bill: george zimmerman is talking for the first time with our sean hannity. the panel debates what he said, does it help and hurt his cause and what does it reveal about the night trayvon martin was killed. listen. >> do you remember when you yourself reached for your weapon? do you remember that moment? >> yes, sir. >> tell us about that. >> um, at that point i realized

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bill: fox news alert now there was world from jerusalem now the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu moments ago now pointing the finger at hezbollah, as the group behind the attack on israeli tourists in bulgaria. no official claim of responsibility for that blast who killed eight people. iran's state tv rejects

accusations that they are behind the homicide bombing. this man on surveillance video, though is a piece of information that investigators are going through and there is a lot more on that to talk about with peter brooks, former c.i.a. officer, senior fellow of national security affairs at the heritage foundation. and peter good morning to you. >> good morning. bill: there is the thought that this is where israel will take its revenge against iran. do you believe that? >> well, i think there is a shadow war already going on, bill. you look at what is going on over iran's nuclear program, the cyber attacks, the assassinations, iran has been involved in, gosh, i don't know, five, six, seven plots against israel, many of them have been foiled with the exception of this plot in bulgaria. there's been a shadow war going on for a longtime. and i think there will be a strike against hezbollah. bill: will this trigger a bigger war the one we've been talking about. >> not at this point, bill i don't believe so.

if israel were to aeu rac attack iran's nuclear in a silt i think it will. southern lebanon will probably be hit at some point. bill: explain the difference when benjamin netanyahu and the israeli officials necessary blame iran and now it's hezbollah, what is the distinction there, peter? >> there are allies. iran is the most active state sponsor of tere lis terrorism. one of the group it sponsors is hezbollah, a shia group in lebanon, it's a terror group, it's a militia. a few years ago, i think you have experience with this that israel and hezbollah fought a war. hezbollah is an ally of iran just like hamas is. bill: there was a resolution voted on just this minute at the united nations security council, i'm hearing that russia and china have vetoed that

resolution. that goes nowhere. a bit of a paper tiger we talked about last hour. there is a report now that the bomber was carrying a fake id from the state of michigan. put that together. >> well, it's very interesting. if it is fake, but there is a large lebanese tkeurbgs aspera in michigan. think came to work at places like ford motor company. there is a large lebanese group. i don't know the origin -fs this individual, it makes it interesting. it won't surprise me that this individual might have some types into the united states or are carrying a fake id procured to help him get into bulgaria to perpetrate this major tragedy. bill: another issue that deals with syria, because you asked. bill in wyoming writes the following, how long has syria has this reported stockpile of

chemical weapons and where did they come from? what can we report on this that is solid? >> well, bill, syria has had the chemical weapons going back into the 19 70s. they got help from places like egypt, the soviet union, help from iran. in fact they probably have the world -- they may have the world's largest stockpile of chemical weapons and the largest stockpile of chemical weapons in the middle east, that includes blistering agents, mustard gas, as well as dangerous nerve agents. bill: it's concerned this has been moved recently. some suggest there might be 45 different locateses throughout the country. i don't know how you keep that secure in the midst of all the turmoil we've watched for 16 months. where is assad now and what is he doing and what is his reaction. >> we need to have a policy sa

saying the use of chemical weapons will not be tolerated. we need to have our intelligence forces focused on where the chemical weapons have gone. we don't want them to fall into the hands of hezbollah or al-qaida. we need plans ready to deal with that in case there is a fall of this government we want to make sure that the chemical weapons are secured and not able to be spread around to people we wouldn't want them to have their hands-on. bill: to confirm this now russia and china vetoed this resolution threatening sanctions against syria. i men'se mentioned that. the u.s. had pushed for this. it did not go through. we didn't rile expect it. russia is in the way. >> diplomacy is failing, people continue to die. we need tokes earth a lot more pressure, we are using covert operations, recruiting people to defect from the regime. there is a loot of things that we can do short of putting american boots on the ground to get this regime to fall but diplomacy has failed, 16, 17

months now so i'm not surprised at all. bill: w thank you, peter brooks, thanks in washington. >> thank you, bill. jamie: the u.s. postal service warning it could default on retiree benefit payments for 2011 and 2012 if congress doesn't act soon. makerlawmakers are arguing over how to fix the struggling postal service which reported a loss of $3 billion in the second quarter of this fiscal year. steve centanni following this live for us. >> reporter: the u.s. post office making history in about two weeks, defaulting on a payment for the first time since the agency was founded in 1775. that's because the post office is losing customers to email, and it's tied to employee benefit obligations it can't meet and it can't change without congressional action. on august 1st the post office will default on $5.5 billion in

pre payments for last year to retiree's health fund. it was put off from last year and comes due this year. that's not all in september a similar payment, $5.6 billion will be due for this year and the post office says it will default on that payment as well if something doesn't happen. that's a total of more than $11 billion. the post office says that in spite of this embarrassing situation employees will be paid, operations will continue in a statement a post office spokesman tells fox news legislation addressing the postal services financial crisis has not been enacted and we continue to experience serious liquidity problems. these on going issues unnecessarily undermine confidence in the vie pweuflt thviability of the postal service among our customers. they fight over how to turn the post office into a money-making

venture or at least one that is not losing billions ever day. with an august break action is not coming any time soon, so the actions will probably go forward. bill: we know the george zimmerman story. what does this mean for the second-degree murder case against him we have a legal panel on that debating. jamie: did archaeologists find the remains of the real mona lisa? i'll tell you what they found and where they found it. i can't sing this one for you, i'm sorry. ♪ mona lisa, mona lisa men have named you. you're so like the lady with the cryptic smile. ♪ ♪

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bill: it is a miracle that he is alive, a 3-year-old boy mission for three days was found in a

sewer drain. rescue teams in columbia found the boy hanging on for dear life trapped in rushing water up to his neck. he's going to be okay. rescuers think he fell in that hole while playing in a construction zone. great to see him, right, mom and dad? jamie: i hope they seal that up. george zimmerman, i hope you didn't miss it. he was speaking out about the moments before the death of trayvon martin. the florida man doing it exclusively, his first interview with our own sean hannity. zimmerman claims that martin spotted the gun when he was bunchin punching him in the face and that's when he threatened him. >> said you're going to. [bleep] die tonight. i get his hand going down from

my mouth and going down to my belt and holster and i didn't have any more time. >> there was an eyewitness out from the very beginning that told police the night of the shooting that he saw trayvon on top of you and did see the beating. there is no witness to the actual shooting itself. >> right, besides myself. >> besides yourself. jamie: i don't even think i could hold these guys back. arthur aidala former prosecutor and fox news contributor. joey jackson, criminal defense attorney. let's get right to it. thanks for coming in. the stand your ground law plays a role, but he does this interview, and joey i imagine that you prefer your clients don't do this unless you have something really specific to say. what is it that zimmerman got out there yesterday that his attorney approved of. >> neither arthur nor i would put a client out there,

generally. but you want to have a client out there in the public opinion. we know he'll be cost examined on this should he testify and every bit of this interview will be picked apart and pieced apart. when you have someone who is con street, when you have someone who apologized to the family. when you have someone who says i can't understand how it would be to lose a child, and explains to the american people exactly how it went down. look, i had no other choice. my nose was broken, my head was being bashed against concrete, he was grabbing for my gun, and on that basis and that basis alone i shot. >> what he said last night, i wanted to say mr. zimmerman, pull this leg, it plays jingle bells. he is becoming a lawyer so he's creating the scenario that needs to be created for him to have a real self-defense claim. all of a sudden trayvon martin, a kid with a snapple and

skittles, and all of a sudden he wants to kill mr. zimmerman. he has his hand over my mouth, he's trying to suffocate me and saying, i'm going to kill you. that is baloney. jamie: now he's named there are no witnesses. why he would submit to that i'm not sure. >> thank you, counselor. >> thank you cocounsel, second chair. >> third chair. jamie: that's not good. he does show, arthur some remorse. we know juries love when you apologize, did he human nice himself a bit. >> the question was, what your thoughts upon reflecting on it. he says i haven't had time to reflect upon it. he says i was in solitary confinement. when i did think about i hope i never go through something like this again. there is a dead kid here. he never goes through something like that again? jamie: the potential jury pool, i cannot believe, i have never

seen a case, and i'm a lawyer in florida too as you know, that has put this much information out there before it even makes it before the judge. and the stand your ground law ahh louse this judge to decide the case and toss it out if he wants even before it goes to a jury. did he not say to potential jurors out there, i can't believe it, i reacted and i'm really apologetic? >> i think he did. i understand arthur's outrage and i think a lot of american people share the outrage that arthur is expressing now. having said that, jaime i think he did what he needed to do. we know there is a jury pool that has to evaluate and assess his credibility and that jury pool will be looking to see what happened. there's been so much negative publicity about what occurred. there are things here we cannot ignore. we cannot ignore here that there is a report and there are records of his injuries. those are significant. the core question of whether he acted reasonably under the circumstances to protect himse himself, this are black eyes, these undeniable. there is a broken knees, that's

undeniable. >> let's make up some more facts here. jamie: this is what he had to say to our sean hannity last night in petition throw specht looking back and the family's reaction, check it out. >> i feel that it was all god's plan, and for me to second-guess it or judge it -- >> is there anything you might do differently in retrospect now that time has passed a little bit? >> no, sir. >> i mean, i don't understand what he was thinking by saying that it was god's plan that he murdered our child, and i really don't understand what god he worships because it's not the same god that i worship. jamie: arthur had to hold his head on this one. let me just be objective and say the gods will defend. is that where the defense is going here? >> i would never allow my client to do this. if i needed to get this out there, everything joey said i would have his wife come and be

the surrogate, because as you know, counselor, that is not admissible. everything -- ladies and gentlemen who are watching the show know this interview can be used in evidence in their case in chief. as direct evidence by the prosecutors they can use it against him. to say that it's god's plan that ha 16-year-old kid gets executed, a kid who had no weapon on him, who has no major criminal history. he's not professional tpaoeurts who has pounded to the point where he's going to die. i had to defend himself. i'm not saying mr. zimmerman should not have defended himself. i'm not saying he's not guilty of murder in the second degree or even manslaughter. jamie: he pled not guilty. was it helpful or hurtful. >> i think it was very helpful. it human niced him. the prosecution will have to show depraeuf a sraoe. absent human experience and heart and i think this tape, regardless i think it makes him a human being.

jamie: guys, thank you. bill >> thank you very much. bill: bil nothing else? jamie: we are going to talk amongst ourselves. bill: jenna lee. "happening now" comes aboard in 11 short minutes. jenna: the top democrat in the house nancy pelosi is suggesting to her fellow democrats that they should skip the party's convention. why is she encouraging that? what is the strategy? a debate on that coming up. also kids and dangerous food allergies is a big topic. a huge breakthrough is now possibly on the horizon for families. we'll talk about that. plus off the florida keys some 60 feet down on the ocean bottom right now a dozen scientists are hard at work. this underwater wonder may soon be history. we are going to take you live under the sea, bill, to meet those who are trying to save the world's final undersea lab. bill: looking forward to that.

we'll see you at the top of the hour. it has the lowest unemployment rate of any state in the country, so what is it doing right? one word. that's next.

bill: on the job hunt now, u.s. unemployment claims are up this morning. in north dakota the job market there is a dream come true. alicia acuna is live in bismarck, north dakota. what are they doing right. >> reporter: hi, bill, oil and gas production in western north today vote ta means in places like willison which is a small town of 17,000 could triple in sides size in the next five years. that means jobs, everything from a to z.

>> you open the yellow pages and we need more of everything, more dentists, more doctors, cairo prabgterskaj chiropractors, more attorneys. >> reporter: what they don't need is someone who hasn't done their homework. >> if you're going to come out here be prepared, don't come with your last $20. >> reporter: the promise of high paying oil jobs with perks like houses has drawn people to this state and created unemployment at 3%. anthony went to canada for training before driving here to apply for work. the job services office says energy companies need experienced and certified workers. >> all kinds ever skills. you have to have skills, if you're an electrician, a welder, truck driving, explosive. >> reporter: and the hiring process can take months. >> everybody does background

checks here. >> i really can't think of a sector, a service or anywhere that isn't being impacted by what we're doing in energy here. >> reporter: finding a place is also difficult. >> at the rate that we're growing, there is just -- it's just impossible to keep up, so people may come up and get a job, but you can only sleep in your car for so long. >> reporter: for more information log onto jobs nd.com. but do your research, it is very important. bill: thanks. alicia acuna in one of the more fascinating states in the country today. jamie: one of the most mysterious women in the worblgsd thin the world, the mystery may now be solved. plus dessert! four perfect courses, just $14.99. come into red lobster and sea food differently. or annuity over 10 or even 20 years?

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